Gina’s thoughts turned to James; how close they had become since that evening when he’d told her everything of his business and invited her to join him. Now she thought she was in love with him. He said he felt the same about her, but sometimes she wondered … He could be so wonderful, so loving and kind when he wanted to be. He’d mentioned taking her to join him in London once or twice. Nothing had come of that so far, though she had high hopes of it still. He was waiting until the time was right. He had made no suggestion that he should move north to be with her, however, although he claimed to miss her when they were apart, and she felt there were times when he seemed only to think of her when he wanted her to hide some items or sell them on for him.

‘It’s very useful having you here to keep an eye on things,’ he’d said last time he visited his parents, at Christmas, removing a couple of silver gilt cups she’d had hidden under her bed and stowing them in the boot of his car, parked near the back door. She’d seen there were two cloth bags in the boot already. ‘It’s good to keep a distance between supply and demand. I’ll drive over to see Bella tomorrow – do you want to come …?’

Of course, she liked the money that came from the sale of the items, and a few times, on afternoons off, with James’s permission, she had taken some of the smaller pieces to various pawnbrokers’ shops herself. She always went by bus and liked to play a part and make up a little story about the necklace or brooch she’d brought and why she needed to pawn it. She knew better than to offer information, but it was always a good idea to have a story in place in case anyone ever quizzed her. She even kept a diary of which pawnbrokers she had visited, what she had left there and for how much, and what she had said, if anything. She was nothing if not thorough.