‘Perhaps she will by the time her birthday comes.’

‘Why must I look backwards! I can’t see you like this.’

‘This way’s safer.’

‘No-one else in my class has to sit like this.’

‘If there’s an accident, you won’t get hurt.’ Although the gap was sufficient Jennifer waited until an approaching van passed before pulling out.

‘Is there going to be an accident?’

‘No.’

‘Never?’

‘Never,’ promised Jennifer.

‘Why can’t I sit the other way then?’

Jennifer smiled. ‘I think you’re going to be a lawyer when you grow up.’

‘What’s a lawyer?’

‘A very clever person.’

‘Cleverer than Daddy?’

‘No-one’s cleverer than Daddy.’

‘What are we doing after lunch?’

‘What would you like to do?’

‘Go to Marwell zoo and see the animals.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll do.’

Jennifer was late triggering the remote control as she came off the London road and had to wait for the high security gates to open fully before she could start up the drive. It was several moments before the square Georgian house became visible, through the trees.

Annabelle was waiting, just inside the entrance.

‘I’ve got a prize,’ announced Emily, producing the postcard. ‘For knowing what C is.’

‘What is it?’ asked the nanny.

‘Cow,’ declared the child.

‘Well done!’ praised the girl.

‘We’re going to Marwell this afternoon as a reward,’ said Jennifer, as they walked down the corridor towards the rear kitchen.

‘ We’ve got a long way to go. We’d better hurry,’ said Jane. ‘ I’ve waited so long, almost seven years, for you to feel as happy and as content as this. Oh, don’t forget the knife: we mustn’t forget that. ’

Chapter Two

The office had gained architectural awards and the City nickname of The Goldfish Bowl, to which Gerald Lomax, proud of their aggressive commodity record, added ‘for piranha fish.’ Built literally on the rubble of one of the IRA’s worst City bombings that totally destroyed the original building in which Jennifer had worked, it was a glass-walled expanse bare except for banks of computer stations.