DI Bradley pauses. ‘Ingrid, at the moment, we are looking at all possible leads and talking to as many people as possible. Including Jamesy Harte, yes.’

I nod.

‘The thing is, Ingrid, when we arrived at his registered address, he wasn’t there.’

My mind whirs. He could just be out. At the shop. Out for a coffee. Something like that. It doesn’t mean anything, I tell myself, but then again, I’m pretty sure the police wouldn’t have me in the station talking to them about it if they thought he was out on a normal errand.

‘And?’ I say, my voice smaller, less confident, than I have heard it in a long time.

‘And, well, the police have been unable to locate him all morning. What we do know is that his neighbours heard a door slam and a car leave the street, at speed, in the early hours of the morning. There were signs that Jamesy Harte’s bedsit was left in a hurry. There was a full cup of tea on the counter, the TV was left on. And Jamesy’s wallet and phone were on his bedside table.’

Anxiety pulls at me, dragging all of my muscles into tight spasms.

‘And do you have any idea where he went? Who with?’ I ask, even though I know that if they did, they wouldn’t have me here.

DI Bradley shakes his head. ‘What we do know is that you were the last person Harte spoke to on his phone and that you have been in contact with him over the last few weeks.’

‘That’s right. I’ve interviewed him about Kelly’s murder and his claim he is innocent,’ I say. ‘That’s not a secret. I’ve told DS King this before. After the incident at my house, and the car.’

‘And he called you last night. What did he want to speak to you about?’

‘He’d heard something had happened to Liam Doherty and wanted to know if I knew any details.’

‘How had he heard about Mr Doherty?’ DI Bradley asks, to the room as much as to me.

‘It was all over social media in a matter of minutes,’ I say. ‘He probably saw it there. Or he had someone contact him. I can’t remember if he told me how he heard, but he didn’t seem to know a lot about it.’

‘And how did he seem on the phone last night? His manner?’

I shrug. ‘He was quite agitated, upset even, when I told him I didn’t have any more information than he already had.’

‘So, you didn’t tell him about what you had learned at the hospital?’ DS King asks.

I blush. I knew she would bring that up. Of course she would.