And if the black eye was connected to what had happened back then, if there’d been a warning like that, it would have been nothing to hide from her. With a dizzying shot of relief, Robin had realized earlier that if it had been connected, if someone had come after them, Rin and Josh would have told her straight away. Rin would have warned her – she’d have wanted to protect her. Thank god – thank god.

But then, what?

As any cop would tell you, victims of domestic violence frequently tried to hide it, for a multitude of reasons: the shame of having a violent partner in the first place; the shame of not leaving them. Everyone could talk the talk: easy to say that if your partner ever hit you, you’d be out the door before he could cradle his knuckles. Much harder to do it if you had no money and nowhere to go, children to house and feed and get to school on time. People covered for violent spouses to keep their own lives possible, to protect their kids, and because they loved them, at least to begin with. They covered bruises with make-up, lied to others, lied to themselves. They kept secrets.

Corinna was good at keeping secrets, Robin knew that. Had she been keeping this one? Close as they were, Robin knew that of course Josh and Peter were even closer. If Josh had hit her, Corinna might have lied to her to protect him.

But she still didn’t believe it. So, again, what?

When they’d finished with Dennis, the police had called her in. ‘Just a couple of extra questions.’ Patel indicated the armchair, which had still been warm from her dad’s behind.

‘Robin,’ said Thomas, ‘I want to ask you again: have you ever had reason to suspect Josh was violent towards Corinna?’

‘No.’

‘Did you ever see Corinna with a physical injury she struggled to explain? Or whose explanation seemed suspect to you – unlikely?’

‘No.’

‘Do you know of anything Corinna was involved in that might have led to her incurring an injury like the one Dennis claims to have seen?’

She’d made herself meet Thomas’s eye. ‘First of all, he wouldn’t claim. He’s totally straight, my dad, so if he said he saw it, he did. Second, do you think I’d know about my best friend being beaten and let it go on happening? Not mention it when she’s found dead in her burning home? And what would lead to a black eye? Martial arts classes? S&M? Fight Club?’

‘We’re asking you.’ Complete patience.

‘Well, as far as I know, she wasn’t in Fight Club.’ Robin stopped, took a breath. In her situation, she really couldn’t afford a temper. ‘I’m sorry. I want to be able to help you, obviously. I want to find out who did this and …’ She shook her head.