‘Something like that,’ she replied, feeling no urge to explain her current dilemma. ‘You can wait in the sitting room while I finish dressing. Did you want a drink?’

‘I think I had more than my fair share the other night,’ he said with a sheepish grin. ‘I’m sorry if I was out of turn phoning you. I hope I didn’t make you feel awkward.’

‘If anyone was feeling awkward, it wasn’t me,’ she said. ‘I take it you don’t feel the need for Dutch courage tonight.’

‘I don’t touch the stuff if I’m driving and not only because my livelihood depends on a clean licence. It’s devastating what damage drink-driving can do,’ he said. ‘Ah, sorry. I guess you already know that.’

‘Derek’s accident had nothing to do with alcohol.’

‘Can I ask what happened?’

‘You can ask, but you’ll have to wait until we’re in the car before you get an answer.’

Faith left Nick to wonder, but within ten minutes, she was setting the alarm and locking the front door. Nick had parked his car in front of her drive. The night was damp and drizzly and the haze from the street lamp picked out the black BMW’s sleek lines and elegant curves.

When Nick opened the passenger door, a waft of polished leather filled Faith’s nostrils. ‘The limo business must be good.’

‘What can I say, it’s a dream job.’

‘My husband loved his car,’ she began as they pulled out of the drive. ‘He locked it away in the garage without fail, and in the winter he was known to cover the engine in a blanket. Not that he knew much about the inner workings. Derek didn’t know a spark plug from a crankshaft, but he was fastidious about keeping it properly maintained. He’d take it to a garage for something as simple as changing a wiper blade.’

‘Most people are the same these days, even me. The problem is a lot of it’s computerised.’

‘That was part of the problem,’ Faith said. ‘Some kind of ABS warning light came on and when Derek explained that it was the brakes, I made sure he had it looked at straight away.’

‘The brakes failed?’

‘Not then. The car dealer couldn’t find anything wrong with the car,’ she explained. ‘And the second time it happened, they claimed the fault was with the sensors and simply replaced them.’

‘Easier than taking the car apart.’

‘Exactly,’ Faith agreed. It had been one of the strengths of the case she had brought against the dealership. ‘A week later, the warning light was back on. It was a busy time for us. I was going away on a spa break and Derek had a lot of work pressures. It was me who suggested he ignore it. It was my fault.’ Faith turned her head away from Nick and squeezed her eyes shut.