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sure. He must have just seen a few figures in the gloom.’
    â€˜What about the others? Haven’t they confirmed that he wasn’t in the shop?’
    â€˜No, but neither do they say he was. They hum and hawand say they can’t remember. They were really drunk, so that might even be true. But the owner insists that he was there and is pressing charges.’
    She considered. ‘Any damage?’
    â€˜None. They managed to trick their way in electronically.’
    â€˜So the worst he might face is a fine. But he’d have a criminal record that would make his life difficult in the future.’
    â€˜It’s the future I’m worried about. They’re a bad crowd, and they’re not going to stop. It will get worse and worse and he’ll end up in jail. I’ve got to get him away from that bunch.’
    â€˜Doesn’t he begin to see that they’re bad for him if this is the result?’
    â€˜Charlie?’ Roscoe’s voice was scathing. ‘He doesn’t see the danger. So what if he’s convicted for something he didn’t do? He’ll just pay the fine and laugh his way home. There’s a girl in this crowd who’s gained a lot of influence over him. Her name’s Ginevra. He’s dazzled by her, and I think she gets her fun by seeing what she can provoke him into doing.’
    Pippa frowned. ‘You mean he’s infatuated by her. There’s not a lot I can do about that.’
    â€˜But there is. You can break her hold over him. Instead of being dazzled by her, he could be dazzled by you. He’s easily led, and if Ginevra can lead him into danger you could lead him into safety.’
    â€˜And suppose I can’t get that kind of influence over him?’
    â€˜Of course you can. You’re beautiful, you’ve got charm, you can tease him until he doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going. If you really set your mind to it you can get him under your thumb and make him safe. I know you can do it. I’ve known you were the perfect person ever since we met and I learned who you worked for.’
    So carried away did he become, explaining his plan, that he missed the look of mounting outrage in Pippa’s eyes.
    â€˜I hope I’ve misunderstood you,’ she said at last. ‘You seem to be saying that you want me to be a…well…’
    â€˜A mentor.’
    â€˜A mentor? That’s what you call it?’
    â€˜You point the way to the straight and narrow and he follows you because he’s under your spell.’
    â€˜Ros— Mr Havering, just what kind of a fool do you take me for? I know what you want me to be and it isn’t a mentor.’
    â€˜A nanny?’
    The discovery of what he really expected from her was making her temper boil again. ‘Be careful,’ she warned him. ‘Be very, very careful.’
    â€˜I may have explained it badly—’
    â€˜On the contrary; you’ve explained it so perfectly that I can follow your exact thought processes. For instance, when did you decide that you wanted me for this job? I’ll bet it was last night when you arrived at my home. One look at me and you said to yourself, “She’s ideal. Good shape. Handy with her fists and no morals”. Admit it. You don’t want a lawyer, you want a floozie.’
    â€˜No, I want a lawyer, but I can’t deny that your looks play a part.’
    â€˜So you admit I look like a floozie?’
    â€˜I didn’t say that,’ he said sharply. ‘Will you stop interrogating me as if I were a prisoner in the dock?’
    â€˜Just demonstrating my legal skills which, according to you, are what you’re interested in. Tell the court, Mr Havering, exactly when did Miss Jenson first attract your attention? Was it when she was naked, or several hours earlier when you saw her in the graveyard? You saw her swapping jokes with aheadstone and decided she was mad. Naked and