“That looks like Jessica Cole,” Trudy Tressler, a famous fashion magazine editor, said loudly. “I thought Allegra said she couldn’t make it?”

The guests stared as she made her way to the front, followed by the officers.

“It’s over, Allegra,” she said firmly. “You’re not going ahead with this. MI6 and the police have surrounded you. You need to give yourself up.”

Allegra paled. Lyndon stepped forward and whispered something in her ear. She looked exasperated and batted him away.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she insisted. “The launch is going ahead as planned. Seven seconds, six…”

Jessica grabbed the microphone, pushing Allegra out of the way. Allegra’s sunglasses flew off, exposing bulging, wild eyes.

“Teenosity is toxic and will maim anyone who uses it. You can’t sell it!” Jessica shouted.

“Miss Cole is right,” Margaret said, taking the microphone off her. “These creams mustn’t be sold. All stores should remove the bottles from the shop floor and make sure the seals on the packaging are kept intact.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd and photographers jostled to take Jessica’s picture.

“How dare you?” Allegra hissed. She turned to the crowd. “Don’t listen to them! This is my life’s work. They’re trying to ruin me because they’re jealous of my success.”

“It’s over,” Jessica repeated.

“No it’s not!” Allegra screamed. “It’s not over until I say it’s over. They have to sell Teenosity. Those girls have to be made to pay.”

She reached into her handbag.

“She’s still got the canister of Teenosity!” Margaret yelled. “She’s going to release it. Take her out!”

An officer dived forward and wrestled Allegra to the ground. Margaret snatched the canister from her fingers and held it up triumphantly.

“I’ve got it! It’s safe.”

Two officers pinned down Allegra while another handcuffed Lyndon.

“How dare you! Get your hands off me!” Allegra aimed kicks at the officers with her silver Jimmy Choo stilettos as they tried to handcuff her.

“Do you know who I am?” she screeched. “I’m Allegra Knight, the greatest supermodel in the world! You can’t treat me like this!”

The guests looked stunned as she was dragged to the lifts.

“I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but the launch of Teenosity is cancelled,” a senior French officer said. “I understand from my British colleagues we have Jessica Cole to thank for averting a major catastrophe.”

The journalists surged towards her, barking questions.

“What is Teenosity?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“You need to ask the police,” she said politely, “but if you’ll excuse me, I want to go and see my dad.”

Margaret helped clear a path through the crowd and they finally made it to the lifts. Jessica sank against the wall as the doors closed.

“Do you think Allegra would have released the canister?” she said.

“We’ll never know, thankfully,” Margaret said, “but this job teaches you to expect the unexpected.”

She hesitated as the lift jolted and began its descent.

“I wanted to tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t believe you or your dad from the beginning. I was wrong. I should never have listened to Nathan, but he managed to convince us all that your dad was Starfish.”

“It was Nathan all along, wasn’t it?” Jessica said. “It all made sense when I overheard the telephone conversation in his hotel room and found the photo in his wallet.”

Margaret pushed her hair behind her ears. “I’m afraid so. We’ve discovered he uploaded the file linking your dad to Vectra on his computer and set up a ghost bank account. The five hundred thousand pounds never existed. It appeared in your dad’s bank statement but it never actually touched his account.”

That was clever – and devious. He’d almost got away with it too.

“Allegra said that Starfish wanted to get rid of me and Dad at the same time. That’s why Nathan eventually agreed I should go into AKSC.”

“You both got in his way and were expendable,” Margaret said. “When he realized MI6 was going to storm the building and his plan was ruined, he came to get you first. He almost killed you back there.”

Jessica could still feel Nathan’s hand on her back as the debris was about to hit them. She shivered.

“We should have investigated Nathan sooner given his history with your father,” Margaret said. “We let you down – I let you down – and for that I truly apologize. Mrs T wants to apologize in person too.”

“Thank you,” Jessica said. “That means a lot, but what will happen now?”

“When Nathan regains consciousness, he’ll be interrogated. He betrayed his country, attempted to murder you, and we suspect he was involved in the murder of Lara Hopkins. We can’t let him get away with it. He will be prosecuted and brought to justice.”