It was strange to be talking like that in church, but it didn’t feel wrong. It wasn’t she who was greedy. She hadn’t done anything bad.

‘Anyway, I’m not sure he can break my trust. The money is mine, he’s always said so.’

‘And?’

‘I want to act like it’s mine. I want to do good with it.’

‘What do you mean?’

Two people came into the church behind them. She took a step closer, to whisper.

‘I want to keep doing my job, obviously. I love it. But I’ve realised. I can help.’

‘Charity?’

‘I don’t know yet. But it’s not a curse. It’s a privilege.’

He looked into her eyes. ‘That’s what I keep telling you.’

They walked outside, and back towards the town and car.

‘Have you got the ticket thing?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘D’you want anything else, before we go?’

‘No.’

He took her face in his hands and kissed her, gently, on the mouth. The kiss was short, and very light, but behind it there was hunger. She felt precious beneath his hands, as if she were made of pure gold. She pulled away.

‘We’ll be late,’ she said.

There was no police car outside the hotel when they got to Paligny at ten to four. They sat down on the steps to wait.

‘Remember when Alex wasn’t in, when we got here?’ said Bea.

‘Can’t believe it was two weeks ago.’

‘Two weeks exactly.’

‘Where’s Dufour?’ said Dan, swinging the car keys on his finger and looking at the empty gates.

‘I hope he’s not going to be Dufive.’

It was hot and birds were singing.

‘Even if Russ Bannam was a friend of Alex’s, he was still weird,’ said Dan. ‘Where did he get that car?’

‘Alex had a lot of rich friends.’

‘He didn’t look rich. I didn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth, did you?’

‘No.’

They heard an engine, but the car passed by quickly, in a flash of yellow.

‘Shall we leave tomorrow?’ said Dan. ‘If they’ll let us.’

‘Spain?’

‘Yeah.’

She looked at the empty driveway and the tall trees above them. She wanted structure. She wanted work, and to face the reality of herself, and the two of them.

‘Or we could just go home,’ she said.

‘Home? D’you want to?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t know what we should do,’ she said. ‘I don’t get any of it. I wish none of it had ever happened. I wish Alex was alive. I wish we could go back to how we were.’

‘Except how we were before wasn’t real,’ said Dan.

‘I know you think that. But it was real to me.’

‘It wasn’t honest.’

‘Do you think I haven’t been honest with you?’

‘You didn’t tell me the whole truth.’