Another possible course of action is to go to the Dean direct. Though it seems unlikely that he would believe her, on the evidence of a selfie and an essay and the casual observation of an ex-boyfriend. And if he doesn’t believe her, what then? In his eyes she would be guilty of making serious and unsubstantiated claims against a colleague. What would that mean for her academic career at Avon or anywhere else for that matter? She has come to value his esteem, almost to rely on it, and the lunch at Luigi’s gave her the sense that her respect for him was reciprocated. So what if he did believe her? Would he be able to muster the university to act? They had, after all, continued to claim the incident on the bridge had been an accident and that Jessica Easton’s death, while tragic, was unconnected to Satnam’s actions. There had been no official response to Tash’s fate as yet or at least Nevis hadn’t seen any. How would they pass that off? It would be so easy and not untrue to claim that Tash was unstable and a drug user; or that she had been devastated by her friend Jessica’s death; or that she was not coping well with being asked to leave. Would suicide contagion be enough to explain it? After all, Tash had lived through a spate of copycat suicides earlier in her life. Hadn’t she voiced her concern that the incident on the bridge might spark others? It would be guesswork but added together the guesses might well be enough to appear definitive. So why was it that, for Nevis at least, they failed to add up? Satnam had wanted to come clean, Jessica said. Satnam had told Nevis she’d had enough. She had been willing to expose Mark Ratner in order to rid herself of him. But Jessica also said that Tash was against Satnam speaking out. Why? Because she was damaged enough to think herself in love with her abuser? Or because to expose Mark Ratner would create more trouble than it was worth, and might even prove dangerous? Whatever the facts of the matter, it all comes back to Mark Ratner.

Her phone rings, interrupting her thoughts, and flashing ‘Satnam Home’ on the screen. Her heart leaps as for a split second it seems possible that Satnam is on the other end of the line, then the realisation hits that it’s much more likely to be either Narinder or Bikram, bearing important news. She closes her eyes and does the best she can to gather herself before taking a deep breath and taking the call.

Narinder’s voice says, ‘Nevis?’

‘Yes, I’m here.’

‘My daughter is waking.’ There is a long pause. ‘The nurse said she asked for you. They said it would help her to wake up if you came, so I have agreed.’