I pull the laptop towards me again and open up the video of Reuben’s hanging. I skip the video forward until the killer’s voice appears. I half expect the voice to have changed to Ed’s, but what it booms out of the laptop speakers, it is unmistakably Rory’s.

Frustrated, I push myself away from the table and walk to the counter to pour myself a glass of water. As I set my glass down, I notice my earphones sitting near the fruit bowl. I spend a few minutes untangling them before plugging them into a port on the side of the laptop.

I slip them into my ears and press play on the video again. The sounds in the video are rendered clearer by the earphones, and I close my eyes to help focus further on the audio.

As Rory’s speaks, I can feel my body tense. As he is about to finish his sentence, questioning Reuben about supposedly killing Anna, I hear a sound I hadn’t heard before. It takes me by surprise and I don’t fully register the content.

I rewind the video again and press play, straining my ears to make sure I’m ready. As Rory finishes his question, the sound quickly becomes clear. A gasp. A collective gasp from a room full of book lovers that transports me back to The Book Club on the night of Ed and Reuben’s joint event.

At that point, there was no way of him knowing that Rory would be bursting in and publicly accusing Reuben of murder. Reuben and he were simply recording a podcast for fans who couldn’t make the events.

He must’ve been thanking whatever god he believes in for such an opportunity, and for the role he played in diffusing the tension; coming out the good guy.

This is the final piece of the puzzle. I find Martin’s number and hit the green button.

‘Hello?’ he says, sounding confused.

The noise in the background tells me that he and his team are still working away at Ed’s house.

‘Hi, how’s it going?’

‘OK, aren’t you supposed to be resting?’ he asks. I wonder what sort of message DCI Bob has given to the rest of the team. Are they supposed to ignore me as a tactic to pressure me into making sure I’m following Bob’s advice?

‘I am, I just have a quick question. You know the fingerprint you found on the page recovered from Jay’s murder scene, did you get a match?’

Martin tells me that there was no match on the IDENT1 system for that fingerprint, though it has now been logged in case of a match down the line.

I tell him that I am 99% certain that it is Ed’s fingerprint and to test it against his prints found in his house as soon as he can. He confirms that he will and hangs up. Next, I dial Liam.

‘Aren’t you on holiday?’ he teases. ‘What can I do for you?

‘Can’t a friend simply call a friend to say hello?’ I ask in reply.