Veronica heaves a deep sigh. ‘Perhaps you could help me to understand why she would try to kill herself if she was at the same time blackmailing you?’

Cullen shrugs.

‘I’m also struggling to comprehend why one of the images features your brogues and your blue Liberty print tie, the one I gave you a couple of Christmases ago, on the carpet in the background.’ She continues to stare at him. ‘I’ve made copies, in case you’re wondering. They’re with my solicitor.’

‘Solicitor?’

‘Yes, someone Daddy’s used. He’s the best apparently.’

‘The best at what?’ Cullen says, horrified. He feels as if he’s sliding down the slippery bank towards rushing rapids, the spray already stinging his face.

‘Divorce.’

‘You didn’t think to talk this over first?’ he says. ‘Please, Veronica, we have so much to lose here.’

‘I’ve decided Bump and I will be better off by ourselves. I don’t know what’s been going on, Christopher, and I really don’t want to know. The doctor said I shouldn’t be having any stress at all. No strange men on the driveway or a husband turning up drunk or leaving the house in the middle of a dinner party, no name changes and certainly not this.’ She raps on the envelope. ‘I’m going to go back to Mummy and Daddy for a while. Until things are resolved.’

‘Things?’

She leans back and, crossing her arms, says, ‘Let’s have a civilised conversation about next steps, shall we? I suggest we start with you telling me exactly who it is I am divorcing, Christopher Cullen or Christopher Mulholland? Or perhaps there are other Christophers I don’t yet know anything about?’

Chapter 48

Nevis

She waits for Luke at the far side of the campus by the bike store. Her phone chimes. Honor. She picks up.

‘I got your message. Is everything OK with Satnam?’

‘They’re going to put her under again.’ She thinks about what she knows. ‘They say she’s out of danger but I’m not so sure about that.’

A herring gull lands on the rails beside the bike store. Her mother says, ‘Nevis, are you OK?’

‘Yup, fine.’ Why does Honor do this? All the fussing, making Nevis feel that she’s not trusted to take care of her own business. ‘By the way,’ she says, deflecting, ‘you are aware that the stove on the boat needs looking at, aren’t you?’ The metal has separated from the plyboard underneath the heat shield. A moderate fire hazard.

‘It’s on my to-do list.’ Her mother sounds anxious and distracted. She’s been that way ever since she went with Alex to see a guy about some work, preoccupied by something she doesn’t want Nevis to know. ‘I’m concerned about you,’ she says now.