The phone in the study shrilled out again and she jumped up to answer it, limping on her left leg, which had gone to sleep on the hard kitchen chair. Why was everyone calling on the landline today? Oh, her mobile was switched off. She hadn’t wanted anything to disturb her and Naomi the night before. Nina switched it back on and lifted the house phone.

‘Hello?’

A stranger’s voice answered, and Nina’s knees began to shake as she listened to the high-pitched, distorted voice. She held on to the desk with her free hand, feeling her breath catch in her throat.

‘Nina, Nina. It’s you now, you have the money, but it’s not your money, is it, Nina? You did nothing to earn it. I did all the earning and all the suffering, and I want payment for that and I’ll get it, too. Mind that if you know what’s good for you. I’ll be in touch.’

The line went dead. Nina dropped the handset and fell to her knees on the study floor, clutching her middle. Shit, shit, she had spoken to the scumbag blackmailer. Her stomach heaved and she clutched it, oh God she was going to be sick. He had known her name…

Still shaking, she forced herself to her feet and stood leaning on the desk, panting. Please let Naomi stay upstairs, please, her daughter mustn’t see her like this; she’d be scared witless. But that terrible voice… had it been the blackmailer? Or some other pervert after the money… David, she had to call David Mallony, right now this minute. Fighting to keep control of her gut, Nina scrabbled on the desk for the number of the police station.

David came to the phone himself. ‘I’ll be with you in fifteen minutes,’ he said, and the very neutrality in his voice sent a further shiver down Nina’s spine. ‘I was coming round this morning anyway. There’ve been some developments.’

Nina was left holding a dead phone. She stood there, her breath coming in short pants. The developments weren’t going to be good news, she had heard that loud and clear. They must have found out something about John Moore, something that was too horrible to tell her over the phone. And hell, Naomi was right here in the middle of it all. Oh, what should she do, what should she do? Loneliness crept into her head as she realised that apart from Sam, there was nobody she could call on for help.

‘Mum! What’s wrong?’

Naomi was beside her, putting her arms round her, cuddling her. Nina held on tightly, feeling Naomi’s heart beating next to her own and breathing in the scent of her child. Blessed calmness crept through her. This, right here, was the single important thing in her life. For Naomi, she could – and would – do anything.

Strengthened, Nina made sure her voice was reassuring. ‘It’s all right, darling. Remember I told you John Moore had been sent a blackmail letter? Well, the – I think that was the blackmailer on the phone. It gave me a fright but I’ve called the police and they’re coming round. Naomi, darling, I want you to be very good and stay upstairs while they’re here.’

She saw refusal in Naomi’s face and went on firmly. ‘I promise I’ll tell you afterwards what’s going on, but some of the things DI Mallony might want to talk about aren’t for you to hear yet.’

The doorbell rang before Naomi could answer, and Nina kept the girl hugged to her side while she answered it. David Mallony was there with Sabine Jameson.

‘This is my daughter Naomi. She’s going upstairs while we talk.’

Naomi tugged at Nina’s sleeve. ‘Can I go right up to the attic room? I could see what’s in those old boxes?’

Nina opened her mouth to agree, but David was already speaking.

‘Right – um – hello Naomi. Ah, Nina, I should have told you – don’t touch the boxes, will you?’ he said, looking from Nina to Naomi in a way that made Nina feel giddy. She listened incredulously as he went on.

‘We might need to, um, fingerprint them later. In fact it might be an idea if DC Sabine here goes upstairs with you, Naomi.’

Nina gaped at him. Why on earth would the police want to fingerprint the boxes in the attic? They didn’t look as if anyone had been near them for decades. The sick feeling returned to her stomach. What was going on?

The young detective followed Naomi upstairs, and David Mallony turned to Nina, his face grim.

‘You can guess it’s not good news,’ he said, as they went into the kitchen and sat down.

‘We found large numbers of pornographic images on the hard drive of John Moore’s computer, most of them involving young boys. Children. Paedophilia. I’m sorry.’

Nina inhaled sharply and clapped both hands to her mouth. So the horrible suspicion had become even more horrible reality. For long seconds she couldn’t speak. She was living in this man’s house, using his towels, drinking his coffee. And she’d stood beside him in his coffin and felt pity, shit, she’d admired him for being brave… and all the time he’d been the worst kind of low-life possible.

‘Christ. What can I tell Naomi?’ she whispered.

David Mallony leaned towards her. ‘You’ll have to think about that. We don’t know yet if he simply kept the images for his own gratification, or whether he was involved in distributing them – or making them.’

Nina’s head reeled. This was getting worse and worse. What if -

‘Oh God – does that mean the blackmailer was telling the truth?’

But the answer to that must be ‘yes’… dear God… Her relation had been the absolute worst kind of pervert, for nothing could be worse than abusing children. And oh, fuck… had it only been other children? Or had she been abused too? Had she ‘screamed her poor little head off’?

Her gut spasmed as she stared in horror at David Mallony, seeing the sympathy in his eyes. The only thing that would make her feel a tiny bit better was if John Moore was no relation to her at all. And that seemed so very unlikely now.

‘Have you found out his relationship to me?’ Her voice came out a mere whisper, and continued silently in her head. Please let him be a ten millionth cousin a billion times removed, please…

His voice was heavy. ‘Bad news again, I’m afraid. There’s a marriage registered between him and Claire Lily Donaldson. One child, Nina Claire Moore. And there was no divorce.’

Nina thudded her fist on the table. What the shit had Claire been thinking? This would be why she left Bedford with Nina, and she must have had her reasons for keeping the paedophilia a secret, but it had still been wrong. It was all very well holding something like that back from a child, but Nina should have been told as soon as she’d grown up.

David Mallony nodded approvingly. ‘That’s right. Be angry. Don’t get into the victim role. All this is nothing to do with you, and you’ll cope best if you think like that. The DNA test will confirm the relationship. In the meantime we’re going to have to search this house, and we’ll bug your landline in case the blackmailer calls again. And if he does I think you should move out of here.’

‘Oh God – I don’t know what to do for the best.’ Nina rubbed her face with both hands. ‘Is there any reason we can’t go home straightaway?’

But if they did that, she would only have to return at some point to finish the business with the house. How very much better it would be to get it all organised first and then never darken John Moore’s door again.

‘It’s up to you,’ said David.

Nina bit her lip. She might as well get the job finished. It wouldn’t take long, a planning session with Sam and then she could sign anything necessary, clear the house and then be off… and they would manage it quicker living here than in a hotel.

‘Okay. I’ll stay in town another day or two but if anything more happens we’ll go to a hotel. That was why you sent the policewoman upstairs with Naomi, wasn’t it – in case there are boxes of nasty photos up there.’

‘Yes. But don’t worry. If there’s anything to be found we’ll get it out of here,’ he said. ‘Now, tell me what this caller said, as exactly as you can remember.’