‘Ingrid,’ DS King says, and I note she is now using my first name.

I feel her hands take mine.

‘Take a deep breath,’ she says, and I try, but there doesn’t seem to be enough air in this car park to fill my lungs.

I attempt to pull away from her. ‘Just let me go home,’ I plead, and to my shame, tears start rolling down my cheeks – and there still isn’t enough air to breathe properly. I hear her order someone to get a chair. There’s a commotion of voices and engine sounds, and a tannoy announcement – and it’s all just too loud and too much.

‘Ingrid, I’m not sure you’re hearing me. We need to consider the possibility that it’s not safe for you to go home right now. Whether you make a complaint or not isn’t really the issue any more. There was someone in this car park, who had in their possession an offensive weapon. Someone who intentionally caused a significant amount of damage to your car and who has left you a threatening note. Emotions are running high, Ingrid.’

Someone guides me to sit down on an office chair, which has been wheeled out from the security hut. I will my breathing to settle. I know I’m inadvertently putting on a show for anyone who can see what is happening. I feel sick. I’m worried I’ll humiliate myself completely and throw up. Panic claws at me. I put my hands over my ears to try to block out the noise and stop the buzzing in my head.

I’m aware of a phone ringing, of DS King stepping back from me. I notice her run her hands through her pixie crop, her expression immediately changing. It’s more serious. I notice she’s looking at me before she catches herself and turns away so I can no longer see her face. But I know, just know, that something bad has happened.

Something really bad.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ingrid

I can’t take my eyes off DS King and when she ends the call, her hand drops to her side. She stands for a moment, then I see her shoulders rise as she inhales and then turns to look back at me.

Within seconds she is hunkering down in front of me, so that her eyes are level with mine.

‘Okay, Ingrid. We’re going to get you out of here and go somewhere we can talk. Somewhere more private.’

‘What’s happened?’ I ask, wondering if she thinks I’m too stupid to realise there is more going on than she has revealed.

She raises an eyebrow. ‘We just think it would be better to go somewhere away from all the noise and all the nosy parkers. Is there a family member or friend we can take you to?’