Allison was still at the door. Jo looked up from her whisky and wondered what she was thinking. Perhaps she was trying to calculate if she could afford, after all, to buy this house. It needed a lot of work so she might be able to do a deal for two million, but she’d have no money to do the renovations that were desperately needed. Of course, with four million, she’d have no problem. All she needed to do was to figure out how to keep it all.

Oddly, Jo felt no fear. Or was it that she didn’t really care? Two million. She didn’t really care about that either. So many years waiting for this opportunity. Allison was all hers now that Portia had left. It was time to finish what she’d started. Wasn’t it? Or did she no longer care about that either?

Jo took another sip of the whisky. What was that expression… in vino veritas… was it equally appropriate to whisky? Because she was seeing the truth now. Or maybe she’d known it all along but had never faced it. She’d not been searching for Allison for revenge, hadn’t been stalking her, waiting for her opportunity. Or maybe that was part of it, but it wasn’t all. Nothing was ever that simple.

When Allison appeared in the living-room doorway, Jo emptied her glass in two swift gulps.

‘I’m going to make some tea,’ Allison said. ‘Would you like a cup?’

‘Sure, why not, I think the whisky is making me maudlin.’

‘It can have that effect.’

Perhaps Jo should have waited for the tea but when time passed and it hadn’t appeared, she reached for the bottle and poured another whisky. This time it was swallowed in one mouthful.

Allison returned moments later, a mug in each hand. She handed one to Jo before taking a seat opposite. ‘What did you make of that?’

That? ‘Do you mean Portia being abused by Stuart for years? Her not being such a pushover after all? That we really have four million quid, or that they never killed any of those women?’

‘All of the above.’

‘I think the longer I live, the more it is that nothing surprises me.’ Jo lifted the mug to her lips, took a sip and lowered it. ‘You aren’t going to try to cheat me out of the two million, are you?’ It was a silly question; if Allison were, she was hardly likely to admit it. Almost as silly as asking her if she’d put something dodgy in the tea.

Instead of answering, Allison sat back. ‘How did you know my address here? I know I never told you.’

Jo nodded. Perhaps this was a day for revelations. Portia, now Jo.

‘I followed you. I have been doing, on and off for years.’ She thought Allison would look surprised, even shocked, but her expression didn’t change.