‘Becky, I need you to be the one to call this in. Would you mind repeating what Callie told you? Use that as the basis for getting the team out here. Let Control know I’m on my way to the scene – not that I’m here already – and I’ll meet them outside the property. We may need to force entry, and we’ll need a crime-scene manager. See if you can get Jumbo. Oh, and it would be sensible to have an ambulance standing by too. We’ve no idea what we’re going to find. No sirens. I’ll brief them when they’re en route.’

He could sense the unasked questions coming down the phone line, but there would be time to answer them all later. Right now he didn’t want to muddy the waters, and he needed to find Jack and get him well away from the place before anyone else arrived.

CHAPTER 62

62

I look up as the heavily pregnant detective inspector comes back into the room. I don’t understand what is going on, because she hasn’t spoken to me about Ian at all yet. She only wanted to know where I have been hiding, and then she disappeared, saying she needed to make a call.

I felt a stab of guilt when I told her about Thea and Garrick. Their behaviour since I killed Ian has freaked me out, but before that they were so kind to me, especially Thea. And then I remember the doctor and his ‘trust’ exercises and I start to shiver again.

The inspector takes a seat.

‘Thanks for telling me about Thea and Garrick Atwell. My boss, DCI Douglas, is putting everything together now so we can get into the house and make sure the women you told me about are all okay. As soon as I know anything, I’ll tell you. But first, can you explain how you came to be staying with the Atwells?’

I tell my story: how I lost my job and had tried to end my relationship with Ian, and the way Thea had come to my rescue. I don’t know how much to say. Should I ask for a solicitor?

‘Ian wasn’t an easy man,’ I say, knowing it is a huge understatement. But I don’t want to sound as if I am making excuses for what I did. ‘He could be particularly vitriolic.’

The inspector pulls a face. ‘Yes, we know that. We read some of the emails.’

I’m shocked by this, although I don’t know why. Of course they will have been looking into our history to see what drove me to do what I did.

‘I’m sorry, but should I have a solicitor with me? Shouldn’t I be cautioned?’

The inspector gives me a puzzled frown. ‘Why would you think that?’