‘My concern,’ he snapped back, ‘is for my son if you’d been stopped by the police while in breach of the law.’

Evie ground her teeth but wouldn’t risk answering. He had a point. An unfair point, but still a point.

‘And why were you giving him a lift anyway? Do you normally bring your pupils home from school?’

‘I didn’t bring him home from school. He played truant today, not for the first time.’

‘Yes, I’ve heard about his behaviour before this.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I went to the school and talked with the Deputy Head.’

‘No, I mean what did you do when you got home? Did you talk to Mark?’

‘Of course I did. I told him to behave himself or there’d be trouble. I gather he didn’t listen. All right, leave it to me. I’ll deal with him.’

She stared, aghast.

‘And just what do you mean by that?’ she demanded.

‘I mean I’ll make sure he knows the consequences of disobeying me again. Isn’t that what you came here for?’

‘No!’

Evie spoke so loudly and emphatically that he was actually startled. ‘That is not what I came here for,’ she said firmly. ‘That boy is very unhappy, and I’m trying to find out why. I hadn’t been here five minutes before I could see the reason. Heavens, what a place!’

‘What’s the matter with it?’ he demanded.

‘It’s like a museum. Full of things, but actually empty.’

He looked around at the expensive furnishing, then back at her. He was totally baffled.

‘You call this empty?’

‘It’s empty of everything that matters-warmth, parents to greet him when he comes home.’

‘His mother is dead,’ Justin Dane said in a hard voice.

‘She’s worse than dead, Mr Dane. She’s missing. Where are the pictures of her?’

‘After what she did, I saw no need to keep them, much less put them on display.’

‘But what about Mark? What would he have liked?’

She heard his sharp intake of breath before he said, ‘You’re trespassing on matters that do not concern you.’