She dressed in red linen trousers, a white T-shirt and a brash red animal-print heart necklace and earrings. She drove the police Mitsubishi to Wimbledon police station and picked up the tube. The rattle of the train and the swirl of the city excited her. Fleetworth-Green was another planet. She changed lines at Edgware Road, bustling along anonymous escalators with an artist’s palette of strangers. Here she could be anyone. The lonely freedom caught her like a cold breeze both refreshing and chilling. Her mind flashed to her night and happiness with Spencer. Before him she had viewed her loneliness as liberty. Now, she missed his presence and protection. She’d lost a layer that only he could replace.
The professor was seated in the window of the Costa cafe with a coffee on the table. She
