She climbed inside, kneeling on the mattress as she poked through the books on the shelf. ‘Harry Potter’s got a lot to answer for.’

‘She’s eighteen.’

‘Yeah. . .’ Chalmers pulled a hardback from the collection and frowned at it. ‘She’s got this same book upstairs.’ The front cover was some sort of dragon thing curled around a woman dressed like a gypsy. Chalmers opened it. Raised an eyebrow. Then turned it so the innards were facing Logan. ‘Interesting.’

The book had been hollowed out. She pulled out a spiral-bound notebook, flicked through a few pages. ‘Oh dear. . .’

‘What? ’

‘“Rowan looked at him lovingly. ‘I’m really glad you bit me Edward,’ she said enthusiastically, ‘this way we can be together forever when we get to magic school!’ He smiled at her knowingly, and thought about how much he loved her, because she was perfect. ‘I know,’ he said romantically, his eyes smouldering like a million suns falling into a million black holes, ‘I can’t think of anyone I’d rather battle the Dark Lord of the Werewolves with than you! You’re so much cleverer than that little swot Hermione.’ And she knew he meant it, because she was the only one who could make his cold dead heart beat again. . .”’ Chalmers turned the next couple of pages, pursed her lips. ‘Oh, look at that. Then they have sex on the carriage floor while Harry watches and plays with his wand. Then he sticks it up Edward’s. . .’ She shuddered, put the thing back in the book and slammed it shut. ‘God, I hate slashfic.’

‘Slashfic? ’

‘Think really bad fan fiction, only you have everyone shagging each other. It’s kind of. . .’ She looked over Logan’s shoulder. ‘Mrs Garfield, did Agnes spend a lot of time in here? ’

Agnes’s mum was standing by the open living-room door, arms folded across her chest. ‘We keep that cupboard locked.’

‘So Agnes wasn’t allowed—’

‘She was obsessed with those bloody wizard books when she was younger. She’d. . . When she was little she’d sneak in there and play. I know we shouldn’t have indulged her, but we did. Keep meaning to clear it out, but every time I tried, she’d burst into tears and scream till she was sick.’ Mrs Garfield narrowed her eyes, then looked away down the hall. ‘What kind of grown woman wants to be a wee wizard boy in a stupid book? ’

Logan pulled on a smile. ‘Don’t suppose there’s any chance of a cup of tea, is there? DS Chalmers will lend a hand, won’t you, DS Chalmers? ’

She looked up at him from the cupboard. ‘I—’

‘Excellent. Milk and two for me, thanks.’ He stood back so she could climb out. ‘I just need to make a couple of calls – get the ball rolling – then I’ll be right through.’

‘You want tea? ’ Mrs Garfield’s mouth hung open. ‘You’ve not done anything yet!’