She walks over and sits down on a spare chair beside my bed.

‘How you feeling?’ she asks.

‘Shit.’

‘You look it. The doctors say you’re lucid, so I thought it’d be best if I popped in to update you on what’s happened. Tom’s been arrested for your attempted murder plus the murder of Jessica Caton. We’ve not gone to the Crown Prosecution Service yet, but we’re hopeful they’ll agree to authorise both charges.’

‘Hopeful?’ Dad asks. ‘That doesn’t sound promising.’

‘It’s all we can say at this stage. We’ve got officers gathering physical evidence as we speak. The more we have before we go to the CPS, the better.’

‘But he tried to kill me. And he admitted to killing Jess,’ I say, forcing my words out through a hoarse whisper.

‘I know. But the CPS’s job is to make sure the case is pretty much watertight before it gets to court. Their remit is to make sure public money isn’t wasted on trials that won’t go anywhere. We need to make sure we’ve got all our ducks in a row so we don’t come a cropper in court.’

‘So there’s a chance he might get away with it?’ Dad asks. I can hear the anger rising in his voice.

‘Well, I wouldn’t say that. He was standing over Grace, holding the knife that had just been used to stab her, and was trying to attack her again when officers arrived. I’m not saying there’s not enough evidence. I’m quite sure there’ll be plenty. I’m just keeping you abreast of the procedure and where we are at this present moment. But there’s something else you should know.’ McKenna’s words are met with silence and held breath. It doesn’t sound like she’s about to deliver good news. ‘He’s requested a psych eval. A psychiatric evaluation.’

‘What does that mean?’ Mum asks.

‘It means he’s requested — or his solicitor has, anyway — for him to be evaluated by a mental health professional.’

Dad makes a snorting noise. ‘So he can get away with it and spend a few years in a cosy hospital instead of rotting in a prison cell where he belongs?’

‘That’s one way of looking at it. Of course, I couldn’t possibly comment. That’s for the professionals to decide. My job is to make sure we’ve gathered as much evidence as we can and that we achieve a successful prosecution. For what it’s worth, I don’t think diminished responsibility on the grounds of mental ill health goes hand in hand with that.’

‘He clearly needs help,’ Mum says.

‘Well, yes. The point we’d like to get to is a sentence that reflects the severity of what he’s done and the lives he’s ruined, with access to psychiatric support in prison. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive, and we’ll be pushing for that option. He’s clearly more than capable of operating as a human being and coming across as perfectly normal. He’s extremely high functioning.’

‘He’s insane,’ Dad murmurs.