‘As I think you both know, I do most of my work at Bradfield Moor Secure Hospital. I deal with a wide range of patients who come to us because they are either a danger to themselves or a danger to society. Their lives are often car crashes and they’re left stranded in the wreckage. When they first come in, they’re often frightened and angry and violent. About a year ago, I was called out to assess a young man who had run amok with a machete in his school staff-room. Luckily, he’d been tackled by a very brave teacher before anyone had been seriously injured.’

Tony clasped his hands in front of him, running his thumbs over each other again and again. ‘He’d been sedated before he came to us, but what I didn’t realise was that he’d been growing increasingly agitated before I went in to talk to him. He seemed calm on the surface but as soon as I started asking him to talk about what had happened, he managed to free one arm from its restraints and he punched me in the face. My nose was bleeding copiously and I left the room to get it stopped and cleaned up.’

Carol gave the barest of nods. ‘I remember you telling me about it.’

He looked straight at her. ‘You know how clumsy I am, Carol. I stumbled out into the corridor and through a set of swing doors, not really looking where I was going, paper towels up to my face. And I crashed into a woman coming the other way. She put her arm up to protect herself.’ He closed his eyes, replaying the scene. ‘I’m pretty sure it was her left arm. I apologised. She said, no harm done and went on her way.’ He opened his eyes. ‘She was a pharmaceutical rep, right? That’s what it said in the paper. So she had a reason to be there.’ It sounded thin. Artificial. Even to his ears. But that was often the way with the truth.

‘You bumped into a woman a year ago when you were having a nosebleed? And she still has your DNA on her sleeve?’ Scott sounded almost amused, as if this was the most outrageous attempt at exoneration she’d ever heard.

‘I’m just telling you what happened.’

‘You think she went a year without having her work clothes cleaned? Without realising she had your blood on her jacket?’

‘All I know is what happened. Now I’ve had my memory jogged, it’s quite clear.’

Carol’s investigative instincts cut in. ‘Was the incident logged in the Bradfield Moor accident book?’

‘It will have been,’ Tony said. ‘Because I needed an ice pack from the nursing team.’