‘It means you’ve been able to do things that were just not possible before.’

Alice laughed. ‘That’s certainly true.’

‘Does your mother suspect anything?’ he asked, releasing her hand.

‘No, she doesn’t.’

‘Ellen has always sniffed things out in the past.’

‘Not this time, Joe.’

‘And you’ve said nothing to her?’

‘Of course not,’ she said with a frown of indignation. ‘It’s what we agreed, isn’t it? Besides, what is there to tell? We’ve only seen each other three or four times.’

‘Five — you’re not counting this evening.’

‘The one thing that Mummy really wanted to know was where I’d spent New Year’s Eve. I told her the truth. I went to a party with friends. What I didn’t say was that you happened to be one of them.’

Keedy chuckled. ‘It was a wonderful night!’

‘I remember every second of it.’

They ate their food and drank their cups of tea, content simply to be in each other’s company. Alice liked to think that being in the WEC had toughened her and made her able to cope with any contingencies. The incident with the stalker had taught her that she was still vulnerable. All over London there were attractive young women who’d lost their husbands or their boyfriends to the army and who lacked the protection they gave. Alice had been assaulted by one of the predators who roamed the suburbs in search of their perverted pleasure. She’d been lucky. But for Keedy, she could have been in serious trouble.

‘Carry a weapon with you next time,’ he advised.

‘That’s illegal, Joe.’

‘I’m not talking about knives and guns.’

She giggled. ‘So what do you recommend — a knuckleduster?’

‘No, Alice. I meant something you probably have in your handbag already. Next time you think you’re being followed, take out a pair of scissors or a nail file and hold them ready. One good jab will scare most men off.’

‘I’ll settle for a sharp kick in the shins. That’s what I should have given him this evening. While he was hopping on one leg, I could have reached my front door.’

‘Where someone was lying in ambush, remember.’

‘Yes, but I wouldn’t have had to fight you off.’

They gazed into each other’s eyes and had a long, silent conversation. Alice had known him for years but never really seen him in romantic terms.

‘What would Ellen say if she knew?’ he asked.

‘I want to make sure that she doesn’t.’

‘Would she be for or against it?’

‘Oh, I think she’d be very much in favour of it.’

‘I’ve got one parent on my side, then.’

‘Daddy would be against you, Joe. If he discovered that you and I had been seeing each other in secret, he’d go berserk.’

‘I don’t believe that. Harvey never goes berserk. Whatever the crisis, he always stays cool, calm and collected. I sometimes think he has ice in his veins.’

‘You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen him lose his temper. You only know him as a detective. I’ve seen him as a father.’

‘What has he got against me?’

‘Do you really need to ask me that?’ she said, nudging his ankle under the table. ‘Let’s be honest, Joe. Where women are concerned, you have a reputation.’

‘I like them.’

‘Yes, but you’ve liked rather a lot of them, Joe.’

‘They’ve always liked me in return,’ he countered. ‘I’m not a philanderer. I’ve only ever had one girlfriend at a time.’

‘That doesn’t matter. To my father, I’d only be the latest in a long line.’

‘Come off it, Alice. It’s not all that long.’

‘All right,’ she said. ‘Let’s just say that I’m not the first.’

‘But you might be the last.’ He beamed at her. ‘That’s much better.’

Alice was taken aback by the sudden announcement. Was it some kind of covert proposal? Or had it just popped out? From the expression on his face, she couldn’t tell if he was serious or merely joking. Her emotions were in a whirl. She liked Keedy very much and believed that he was extremely fond of her. But her feelings had never been any deeper. The mere hint that he was declaring his love for her made her heartbeat quicken. She had to make a supreme effort to control herself.

‘There’s another reason why Daddy would be angry,’ she said.

‘You don’t need to tell me what it is, Alice.’

‘It would be a real blow to his pride.’

‘That’s easy to understand,’ said Keedy, wrestling with a clash of loyalties. ‘Harvey Marmion is one of the best detectives I’ve ever worked with. Imagine how he’ll feel if he discovers what’s been going on. It was right there in front of him but he didn’t even see it.’

Though evening had long since evanesced into night, Marmion was still at his desk in Scotland Yard, crouched over a map as he tried to plot the possible routes that Ablatt would have taken to get from Lambeth to Shoreditch. The fact that he’d made a detour to Caroline Skene’s house in order to tell her about his achievement at the meeting of the NCF showed how important she was to him. Caroline came first. The three friends waiting for him would have been deeply upset to realise that. Keeping the truth from them would be an act of kindness. It would lessen Ablatt in their eyes.

Marmion had even outstayed Claude Chatfield. When the superintendent found him still there, he urged him to go home. They both needed rest. Marmion waved him off, then worked for another twenty minutes before his neck started to ache and his eyelids began to droop. When he struggled to his feet, he felt twinges in his back and his legs. It made him feel grateful that he hadn’t stayed up all night in the front room of a house owned by two maiden ladies. Marmion recognised his limits. That sort of duty was for younger detectives. Putting on his coat and hat, he switched off the light and left the building.

Ellen had made a valiant effort to stay awake for him but she kept dozing off. It was the sound of a key in the front door lock that brought her out of her slumber. She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Though she strained her ears, she could hear nothing. Marmion had taught himself to move about the house with the stealth of a burglar. Ellen often teased him about it. When he finally put his head around the door, he was sad to see that she was still awake.

‘No need to apologise,’ she said. ‘It’s what any wife would do.’

He kissed her gently on the head. ‘But you’re not any wife, Ellen. You’re one in a thousand.’ He began to undress. ‘In any case, you’re wrong. When some of my colleagues get home late, there’s a torrent of abuse waiting for them. Not every wife has your tolerance.’

‘It’s not tolerance, Harvey. It’s fatigue. I’m too weary to complain.’

‘How was your day?’

‘It was rather lonely. What about you?’

‘Oh, I’m never short of company. I seem to have done a hell of a lot today but I don’t have much to show for it. However,’ he went on, ‘I won’t bore you with the details. I’m still trying to make sense of them myself.’

‘If you’d got that promotion to superintendent, you’d be home earlier.’

‘Don’t you believe it,’ he said, undoing his laces before kicking off his shoes. ‘Claude Chatfield left just before I did. He works all hours.’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but he doesn’t use as much energy as you. He stays at Scotland Yard all day while you and Joe Keedy have to charge all over the place. Being a superintendent wouldn’t have been as dangerous as going to some of the rougher areas of London. There’d be no risks to take.’

‘That’s exactly why I didn’t want the job, Ellen,’ he confessed. ‘In fact, I made sure that I didn’t get it by giving the wrong answers at the interview. With all its headaches and frustrations, I love the job I do. There’s nothing to touch the sheer thrill of a hunt for a killer. You’re going to have to put up with a mere detective inspector for a little longer, I’m afraid. I hope you won’t be disappointed.’

Ellen patted the pillow beside her. ‘It suits me fine.’