Thomas Durham was still in intensive care. Jane didn’t want to go onto the ward in case there was a scene with Nick. She showed one of the nurses her warrant card and asked her just to tell Nick there was a detective outside who’d like to speak to him.

As soon as he saw her, Nick’s expression changed. He looked at her as if she was a piece of dirt.

‘What do you want?’

‘Can we go outside and talk in private, please?’ Jane asked, noticing a couple of nurses watching.

‘I don’t think we’ve got anything to talk about.’

Jane didn’t want to get into an argument. ‘Fine, I’ll go then.’ She started to walk away.

‘How could you think my father was involved in that girl’s disappearance?’ he asked angrily.

‘We had evidence she went to the convent and wanted to speak to your father. I couldn’t just ignore it.’

‘If you had bothered to speak to me, I could have told you where he was. But oh no, you were so hellbent on arresting him, it didn’t even cross your mind. You don’t care about me . . . you just used me because you wanted to know more about my father.’

‘That’s not true, Nick. I do care about you.’

‘Well, I don’t give a fuck about you! You are a devious bitch who can’t be trusted . . . just like my ex-wife. I never want to see you again,’ he said, raising his voice.

‘I’m genuinely sorry about your father, Nick.’

‘Sorry! You are responsible for the state he’s in. I’ll never forgive you for as long as I live!’ He turned and walked away.

*

As she stared out of the cab window, Jane knew there was no way back with Nick. In some ways she wondered if it was for the best, as he’d clearly not got over what his wife had done to him. She recalled his reaction to seeing Father Chris kiss her and suspected Nick had in fact been spying on her a few nights ago. It seemed that underneath his charming façade there lurked a jealous, possessive man who would question where she’d been every time she had to work late.

The cab dropped Jane off at the police station. As she walked through the reception-desk door, the duty sergeant handed her a small envelope with her name on it.

‘A member of the public dropped this off for you earlier. He said it was important and asked that I made sure you got it.’

‘Did he say who he was?’

‘His name was Chris. He said he was a friend of yours.’

Jane thanked the sergeant and tucked the letter in her pocket.

‘Is it OK if I have a quick word with Lee Holland? I just need to tell him we will be interviewing him later.’