‘He completely took me in, Mum,’ she said indignantly. ‘He told me he lived in a big house in London, something like the Hall. I thought he’d have a housekeeper of his own, and mebbe gardeners like you, Uncle Tom and Nell, but it turned out he lived in lodgings.’

‘Shameless, taking in a young girl like that, blinding her with stories of wealth,’ tutted Dora.

‘I never thought he lived in a place like that,’ said Ellen, puzzled. ‘Are you sure that’s what he said? Diana shares a flat with a friend in London, not a big place at all. It’s Mr and Mrs Stellion who own the brewery and have the deep pockets. What did James actually say?’

‘He called it “my place in Pimlico”,’ Gina said. ‘What was I to think?’

‘That he lived in lodgings, mebbe, Gina. I reckon you wanted it to be a grand place and you hadn’t got a clue. You knew all along that the things he sent you were stolen and you just liked the money.’

‘Nell,’ scolded Dora. ‘Be kind.’

‘Be daft, more like,’ muttered Ellen. ‘Gina, you’ve taken yourself in, you know you have. He used you to help him, but it was you who agreed to it, knowing what you were doing was wrong. You could have said no.’

Gina looked sulky and mutinous.

‘We know you went to live at the Merrylife Hotel,’ said Tom, ‘to hide from the police after they came to the Hall. It was lucky for you, and for us, that you found Mary and Ruth Hathersage.’

‘What do you know about them?’ said Gina, sorry her story wasn’t to be a complete revelation and her family gripped by her adventures. She wanted to put her own slant on events, too.

‘Uncle Tom and I went to see them the day after you left the Merrylife. That was bad luck. Had we been a day earlier we’d have found you there. The Hathersage sisters could not have been nicer. They didn’t seem to mind that you told them terrible lies about being an orphan, cast adrift and penniless in the world,’ said Ellen, ‘instead of a criminal, on the run, with stolen goods that you stored on their premises, just like you hid the stolen things at the Hall.’

‘I worked there for several weeks. I earned my keep,’ said Gina, indignant again.

‘And then you had your handbag stolen—’

‘It was awful. Look, I’m covered in grazes,’ said Gina, showing her knees. ‘The man took all my money.’

‘All your money, Gina? How much was all?’ Tom asked.

‘Every bit,’ she said evasively. ‘I had to beg my bus fare back to the hotel from the chemist who bandaged my knees.’