‘We were going to, we’d made up our minds, but then he was identified. In the paper, I mean – obviously the police knew before. He had previous, two rapes; he’d only been out three weeks. We talked about it for hours then we made a pact to keep it secret. He’d raped before, he wasn’t an innocent guy having some kind of mental breakdown, and even if Josh hadn’t been charged, the story would have followed him round forever: That’s Josh Legge; he killed a man.’

Samir’s face was a confusion of shock and disbelief and – yes, she wasn’t mistaken – anger. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he said. ‘Now, I mean, in the past week. At the hospital – I asked you. Even if you couldn’t tell anyone else, remember? Eight days, Robin, eight days, a whole line of enquiry, a major line, that we’ve known nothing about.’

‘Because it’s not relevant.’

He stared. ‘Not relevant? Corinna – your friend Corinna? – she’s dead and her husband’s killed someone before and it’s not relevant?’

‘Because it isn’t. If it’s about that, why hasn’t whoever hurt them come for me? I didn’t tell you, Samir, because I knew this is exactly what you’d think. I was there, I was involved, too. I know it’s not what’s at the bottom of this.’

He threw up his hands. ‘How? How can you be so … obtuse? How can you miss the point that’s staring you in the face?’

‘What?’

‘But no, actually, you’re not. Are you?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to know Josh was – is – capable of murder. Because you don’t believe he did this, killed Corinna, you took it on yourself to suppress information that made him look guilty.’

‘Because you’d have stopped looking for anyone else! The real killer.’

‘Josh is a real killer.’

They stared at each other. For the first time, Robin understood – really understood – that it was true. Josh was a killer. He’d killed a man – she’d seen him do it with her own eyes. Whether or not she understood why, whether or not she was grateful to him for saving her life, it was true: he’d been so overcome by anger – rage – that he’d lost control and killed a man.

In Samir’s eyes, she saw her shock reflected. He was doing it, too, trying to understand how the Josh he’d known – kind Josh, loving Josh, his friend – had taken another man’s life.