Robin looked at the word. ‘Though are we being daft?’

‘How so?’

‘Was it really true that no one knew? The guy at The Spot, the manager, he said Harry used to come and pick her up sometimes, right, at the end of her shifts? They close at two. Even if they hadn’t actually told anyone they were together, you don’t pick someone up at two in the morning when you’re just an old friend, do you?’

‘Unless there’s another reason,’ said Maggie.

‘Like what?’

Robin looked at her. ‘Protecting her? Keeping her safe?’

Chapter Twelve

‘We’ve got to tick off a bit of the other stuff,’ Maggie’d said when they’d finished. By then, they’d been sitting side by side on the table, feet dangling. ‘Becca’s the priority, obviously, but the other clients pay the bills and they’ll get restive if we let things slide. Given that The Spot’s not open ’til this evening, how do you feel about getting some insurance fieldwork done this afternoon? Divide and conquer – work solo, we can cover twice as much?’

‘I feel good about it.’ She paused. ‘Maggie …’ Sitting there in front of the whiteboard, ideas pinging between them, she’d felt momentarily back in the game.

‘Hm?’

‘Thank you. Again.’

‘For what?’

‘Everything. The job – all of this.’

‘Oh, give over.’ She’d slipped down from the table, brushed off her behind. ‘I’m already dreading you sorting your appeal and leaving me. Maybe I won’t let you.’

Now, after an hour parked down the street from a nail salon in Ladywood, Robin felt that brief sense of engagement ebbing away, along with any residual body heat. She’d lost sensation in her toes twenty minutes ago. Sod it – she turned the ignition on and cranked the heater up. She’d just have to risk drawing attention to herself, though frankly, she’d be surprised if her target, the co-owner of the salon, would connect a woman in an Audi with her boyfriend’s dodgy insurance claim. Possibly she didn’t even know about it. Maybe she’d been thrilled when Tony gave her his 5 Series when he traded up, never dreamed he’d reported it stolen and put in a claim for it along with a brand-new set of golf clubs previously unbeknownst to the insurers but nonetheless in the boot, apparently, at the time of the alleged theft. If she really hadn’t known, Robin hoped she could prove it: she could be looking at a fraud charge otherwise.

Who knew, what did they know, and why: the questions she spent her life asking.