Wally Ingram folded the morning newspaper neatly, taking care to ensure that all of its corners were in perfect alignment, and threw it on the fire. He watched for a few seconds as it blackened and disintegrated, then settled back into his armchair. He closed his eyes. No more news for 24 hours, he thought. He smiled.

There were two things that Veronica Quinton regarded as indispensible in an au pair. The first was cleanliness.

Most rocket scientists do not drive rally cars, date supermodels and stunt-double for Brad Pitt, but then Harry Renfro was not most rocket scientists. Part daredevil, part scholar, he was all man, and women loved him for it.