Except that Kit hadn't asked for a phone, and that made her wonder if he had enough friends. Since Christmas he had been getting on better, at least with his studies, but he still seemed to spend most of his time at home on his own or with Wesley.

Wesley-there was a thought. She rang Wesley, asking if he could pick Toby up from his after-school care. That would leave her free to go straight to Erika's, and possibly track down Kit in the process.

It was cooler outside than in, and the brisk walk down Ladbroke Grove cleared her aching head. The fruit trees were in bloom, and a rainbow of late tulips brightened front gardens and window boxes. It seemed to her that this time of year London was bursting at its seams, life pushing through the cracked cocoon of winter, and her spirits always lifted along with the city's pulse.

The wind had picked up by the time she reached Erika's house in Arundel Gardens, cooling the back of her neck where it had gone damp from the heat, swirling bits of debris about her ankles.

She rang the bell, and after a long wait, it was Kit rather than Erika who opened the door.

"Hi," he said, looking unusually pleased to see her, and her desire to scold him over not checking in vanished. "We were in the garden. I thought I heard the bell. I'll make you something to drink if you want to go out."

There was more to his offer than manners. "Is everything all right?" Gemma asked, touching his shoulder briefly as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Yes. But she's waiting for you."

Taking the hint, she left him and went out through the French doors into the garden. Erika rose, a little slowly, from her seat at the garden table and came to meet her.

"I thought it must be you," she said, her expression anxious. "Did you find out-"

But Gemma was already shaking her head. "I'm sorry, no. They won't release any information about the seller. Their jewelry expert believes the piece is authentic, and they're not required to give provenance. The expert is a man named Amir Khan." Gemma pulled out a chair for herself as Erika sank back into hers. Kit had come out and set down a drink for her, then stepped back, listening quietly. "The girl who took the piece in-Kristin-might have told me more, but Khan came in and shut her up."

"Is there any point in you going back, having another word with her on her own?" asked Erika.

Gemma shook her head. "I don't think so. She'll have been well warned. He-Mr. Khan-said that you'd have to get a lawyer. And that if it were a matter of proving that an item was looted by the Nazis, the case could drag on forever. I'm afraid he's right," she added gently. "You may have to let it-"

"Oh, no," broke in Erika, and the fire was back in her eyes. "I've let it go long enough. And it wasn't the Nazis who stole the brooch from me."

Kristin fidgeted through dinner, earning a concerned glance from her mother and an irritated "Will you sit still, for heaven's sake?" from her dad.

When she did little more than push her food round her plate, her mum shook her head. "Kristin, you need to eat."

"I had lunch out." It was an easy lie, so she embroidered. "With some mates from work. At Carluccio's." Right, she thought. Who exactly would she have gone to Carluccio's with, even if she could afford it? Giles?

Before her mother's look of interest turned into questions about what she'd eaten, she said, "And I'm going out tonight. Just for a bit." She glared at her dad, daring him to criticize. That was one of the worst things about being forced to live at home-her parents still treated her like a teenager, even though she was more than a year out of university.

She'd never introduced them to Dom, nor told them anything about him. She could just imagine what her dad, a supervisor at Abbey Mills Pumping Station who had worked hard to put his only daughter through university, would have to say about a man who lived on inherited money. That was grief she didn't need.

Her mobile rang. When she saw that it was Giles, she quickly pressed Ignore. Her father looked up from his pork chop, frowning. "I've told you not to bring that thing to the table."

But before Kristin could defend herself, the home phone rang. Her mum was closest and answered it, receiving a second scowl from her dad. "I thought we'd agreed. No phone calls during-"

"It's your friend Giles, darling," her mother interrupted, smiling as she handed Kristin the phone.

"Bugger," Kristin muttered under her breath. Giles was already waffling on in her ear. "…wasn't fair what Khan did to you today. Don't know what gets into him, but I'm sure you didn't deserve it."

"Thanks, Giles. That's nice of you." She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "But I have to-"

"Thought you might want to go out for a coffee, talk about it. Or-or you could come to the flat. We could listen to-"

"Thanks, but I can't, really." There was no way she was going to his flat. The thought of being alone with Giles was bad enough-although she couldn't imagine he'd get up the nerve to make a move-but she certainly wasn't spending the evening with that dog he was always going on about. She knew what effort it must have taken him to invite her, however, and tried to be kind. Excusing herself, she left the dining room and retreated to her bedroom. "I'm going out already, Giles," she said when she was out of her parents' hearing. "Meeting someone at the Gate, in Notting Hill."

"You're meeting him, aren't you? The bloke who sent you the roses."

"You're starting to sound like my father, Giles," she said, all inclination to be gentle vanishing. "And besides, it's none of your business. Look, I'll see you at work tomorrow." She started to hang up, then put the phone back to her ear. "And by the way, don't call me at home-

"-And sod you," she added, tossing the phone on the bed. Now she had to get out quickly, before her mum started asking questions about her friend. Leaving her work clothes in a heap on the floor, she changed into jeans and a slightly tatty rose-colored cardigan. This was one night she didn't intend to tart herself up for Dominic Scott. Nor did she intend to wait if he wasn't there.

She'd told herself a hundred times that she was only going to finish what she'd tried to say that afternoon, but there was a small, traitorous part of her that knew it wasn't true-a part that imagined the roses were real, that she would see him and he would look into her eyes and everything would be all right.

Serve her bloody well right if he didn't turn up, she thought as she walked up the road towards Earl's Court tube station, head down against the wind.

When she emerged at Notting Hill Gate a few minutes later, it was well past ten, but the streets were still busy with late shoppers and patrons coming and going from the restaurants and pubs. Waiting to cross at the light, she saw the woman beside her start to step out into the path of a 52 bus barreling round the corner into Pembridge Road. Kristin grabbed the shoulder of her jacket and yanked her back, feeling the draft rock her as the bus passed.

"Christ!" she said, loosing her hold, her heart pounding. "Can't you watch where you're going?"

"Sorry," the woman mumbled, without looking at her, and when the light changed she walked on, head still down.

Some people, Kristin thought, shaking her head, but then she was crossing Notting Hill Gate, and the door to one side of the Gate Cinema yawned before her.

There was no bouncer, as Monday was a light crowd, but it was only as she started down the stairs into the club that she remembered it was salsa night. The driving beat of Latin music rose up to meet her, and as she reached the basement she saw that instead of the usual milling bodies, couples were dancing in sync, touching. Her heart sank. That temptation was a complication she didn't need, and she wondered if Dom had remembered and had chosen the club because of it.