‘It’d be an overnight stay, at the least. Antibiotics, potentially intravenous steroids.’

‘Would I be left with a scar?’

‘There would be a surgical scar, yes. We’d go in through the abdominal wall. But that route isn’t risk-free, either. I have to tell you there is a chance we’d have to take out the uterus or Fallopian tubes if there’s a chance the cancer has spread, or if it’s deemed safest to do so.’

The thought sent shockwaves through Caroline. She and Mark had never intended to have more children, but the prospect of having the possibility taken away from her was heartbreaking. More than that, in that instant it made her feel less of a woman.

But there was no denying further, heavier chemotherapy wasn’t an option either. She’d been fortunate with the paraplatin. As a targeted treatment, it meant she’d had no hair loss or outward physical signs of cancer. She’d had the usual vomiting and exhaustion — not that she’d admitted that to the consultant. Now, there was nowhere left to run. She either went down the intense chemotherapy route with all that entailed, or she opted for surgery and the scars she’d be left with for life — with that as the best possible outcome of that particular option.

She leaned back in her chair and contemplated what life was going to become. Either way, she had to face up to it. She was going to need to tell Mark. It would affect her work, her home life, her relationships. There was no way out of it. No way of hiding it. Not anymore.

39

Caroline headed into work, glad to be able to dive into something which would take her mind off the appointment she’d just had.

Almost as soon as she arrived, Sara Henshaw updated her on what she’d missed.

‘Good news and bad news,’ she said. ‘CCTV came in from the library just after you left yesterday. I’ve gone through it all, but there’s no-one of interest at all, at least not around the time the email was sent.’

‘No Patrick Walsh?’

‘No. No-one on our list of suspects. No-one I recognised at all. I asked the library for anyone who used the computer terminals within two hours of the time the email was sent, but no-one had. It was a pretty quiet day by all accounts. So either the person who sent it isn’t the person who killed Roger, or they’re someone we haven’t met or spoken to yet.’

‘Or they accessed the library’s wifi from outside the building.’

‘Or that. There’s external CCTV on the corner of Burley Road, which covers the roundabout area. I don’t think it’s going to be much use, though.’

‘So what are our options?’