‘You do seem to like getting yourself into all sorts of trouble, don’t you?’

Her tone is friendly, but I believe it to be little more than an act.

‘Well, if you mean I’m not afraid to do my job and ask tough questions, then I suppose so,’ I say, my heckles rising.

‘Well, that’s not what I meant, but …’ She looks around the room again, turns to DC Black and tells him to call in SOCO and check for any CCTV images at the main entrance.

‘Those cameras have been out of action for weeks now,’ I tell her. ‘I’ve complained about it, but nothing’s been done.’

‘There might be some footage from the walkway. The council offices’ cameras might have caught something,’ DC Black says. ‘I’ll get that checked.’

‘Great,’ DC King replies. ‘And, Ms Devlin … I mean, Ingrid … maybe we can have a sit down and go over some details.’

I nod and lead her to the living room. I even offer to pour them both a cup of coffee, which they both decline, and then I go over the events of the previous night, down to the broken lights in the corridor outside my flat.

‘I didn’t get overly alarmed when the lights weren’t working in the hallway last night. Things here break. A lot. If it’s the weekend, you can forget about them getting fixed, even though we pay through the nose for management fees. But now, I think someone might have tampered with them.’

‘I’ll look into that, too,’ DC Black says.

DS King speaks. ‘And you went to the Maldron. How did you get there? Did you drive? Phone a taxi?’

I shift awkwardly, wondering if I can get away with not telling the entire truth.

‘I got a taxi. It was late and it was raining. My car’s in the garage …’

She nods and I take a deep breath; I might as well tell her the truth about that at least.

‘It was vandalised on Thursday night. So it’s in for repair.’

‘Vandalised how?’ she asks.

‘A window put in. Someone spray-painted the word “scum” on the bonnet. They left me a note.’

I watch as she looks back to DC Black. She sighs.

‘And you didn’t report this?’

‘No. I just took the car to the garage. Thought it was just some yob, annoyed I’d reported his court case or something. It happens.’

‘And you say there was a note. What did it say?’

I blush. Damn it. I’m about to be caught out in my own lie.

‘Something about letting the paedo rot,’ I say, my face blazing.

‘Doesn’t sound like the words of just some yob, does it?’ Eve King asks.

‘No. No, I suppose not. I just didn’t think it was anything serious.’

She raises an eyebrow. She’s not even trying to hide the smirk on her face now.