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‘Ryan!’ Her voice was a painful croak, but despite that she smiled. ‘Thank God. I thought I’d never get away from here.’ She lifted her good hand, tugging at the chains. ‘See if you can find a key for this, or you’ll have to cut them off somehow. There are some tools in the shed if you need them.’

He didn’t move. He stared at her as though seeing her for the first time, his expression without emotion. He was like a surgeon inspecting a patient.

‘Ryan?’ she said. A sense of unease was replacing the joy. ‘Is everything OK?’

He held her gaze, contemplating her.

‘Get me out of these,’ she said. ‘And then there’s someone else in our bedroom.’

Although you know that, she thought. You already went in there. You went in and out and didn’t do anything.

Her stomach twisted into a painful knot.

‘Ryan,’ she said. ‘What is this?’

His mouth hardened into a small, disappointed pout.

‘Can you help?’ she said.

‘I don’t think you understand,’ he said, in a distant, almost thoughtful way.

Her sense of unease grew.

‘What don’t I understand?’

‘I’m not here to help you.’

The words made no sense. He had to be here to help her; there was no other reason for him to be here.

Although she was beginning to suspect she had misunderstood this all along.

‘Of course you are,’ she said.

He shook his head.

‘Then why are you here?’

‘I need to move you,’ he said. He held up a syringe. ‘Which means I need to inject you with this. The first time I took you by surprise, but this time I figured you’d realize it was me because I’d have to get close to do it.’ He shrugged. ‘So I decided to let you know.’

A chill ran through her from head to foot. She felt as though she was floating outside of her body. She forced herself to focus.

And in that moment, she began to understand.

There was only one explanation. It was impossible, of course, but it was the only explanation. How and why he had done it, she had no idea.

But this was, finally, the only explanation that made sense.

‘It was you?’ she said, her voice low and incredulous.

He nodded. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t realize earlier. I was worried that you would, and this wouldn’t work. You working it out was the one real risk in my plan, but I needn’t have worried. You’re much more stupid than I thought.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘You had no idea. And it was so obvious.’

‘I couldn’t have known it was you.’ She looked away. ‘You’re my husband. I trusted you. That’s what trust is, Ryan.’

‘Is it?’ he said. ‘I’ve often wondered. To me it just looks like a weakness.’

‘It’s not. It’s the greatest strength there is.’

‘Not this time,’ he said. ‘Not for you.’ He puffed out his cheeks. ‘Really, Mary. You should have known. I mean, who else could it have been? Who had access to your bag, your house, your fridge, your car? Nobody.’ He wagged a finger at her. ‘Well, not quite nobody. I did.’