‘I’ll also tell you that if I weren’t genuinely worried about Becca, I’d do it right now.’

A barely audible ‘Thank you.’

‘Don’t thank me yet.’

‘Harry said you accused him of killing Becca,’ said Robin.

Valerie looked up, button eyes shining. ‘With the drugs, that’s all I meant.’

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you accuse him of giving her drugs in order to control her?’

‘Yes,’ she said again, looking back down. ‘He’s always liked her. Don’t forget, I’ve known him and Lucy since they started at Grafton House. She’s never got involved with him before – why now? And why, just after she did, has she gone missing?’

‘You know, Valerie,’ said Maggie, shifting her weight to the other foot, ‘given what you said today, people might think you had a motive for killing her.’

‘What?’ She stared, aghast.

‘Did the idea of your daughter with a man of colour disgust you so much that you killed her?’

‘No!’

‘It’s a question people could reasonably ask. You need to consider that.’

Valerie blinked, sending parallel tears down her cheeks.

‘Right. So, tell us, have you got any concrete reason for thinking Harry has anything to do with Becca’s disappearance?’

‘No.’

‘Don’t say it just because you think it’s what we want to hear. Are you sure you’ve never had reason to think he might hurt Becca?’

‘Yes.’ Valerie hesitated, grappling with something. ‘He loves her.’

‘All right.’

Valerie turned to get a tissue from the box on the table and Maggie looked at Robin. She shook her head slightly: incredible, isn’t it? In the twenty-first century.

Blotting her eyes, Valerie crumpled onto a chair at the little table. She coughed and blew her nose. ‘I really am sorry,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what came over me. I wasn’t planning to … launch into him. I just wanted to talk, to ask if she’d said or done anything that would explain … I …’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve always been bad with people. I get things wrong, I don’t trust myself around them. I feel like everyone else knows how to handle themselves in the world and I don’t.’

‘Everyone feels like that,’ said Robin.

She looked up, sceptical. ‘You?’

‘Are you kidding?’

‘I should apologize, shouldn’t I? I should tell him I’m sorry – ring him or …’

‘To be honest,’ said Maggie, ‘the best thing you can do now is keep away from him. We’ll tell him we’ve spoken to you, that you regret it and send your apologies but just leave him alone. Tensions are running high – no one’s at their best.’

‘Do you think we can forget this, you and me? Put it behind us?’

‘It’s not us you need to worry about. And we need to focus on Becca.’