‘Not me either. I know of your restaurant, and I know Dan was keen to acquire it, but he didn’t kill to get it.’ There was something about her calm, everyday tone that had me believing her, even though I didn’t want to. ‘Why would Dan want your husband killed? That’s not good business,’ Eva continued. ‘You can’t negotiate with a dead man and all that would do is piss you off and make you far more likely to go to the police. I taught Dan a long time ago to beware of people with nothing to lose. It makes them dangerous.’

Was she telling the truth? If so, was it just one of those things, a random hit-and-run with Nathan in the wrong place at the wrong time?

‘I know you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me, but I give you my word: neither Dan nor I, nor anyone else who worked for us, had anything to do with your husband’s death,’ said Eva. ‘And I wouldn’t lie about that. And if Dowd was responsible, I would’ve heard. My condolences.’

A strange chill swept over me, bringing stillness in its wake. I had no reason to believe Eva and yet I did. Stunned, I turned to look at Sonny. His eyes were clouded with guilt, his lips turned down. A single bead of sweat ran down the side of his face.

‘Persephone, I’m so sorry,’ said Sonny softly. Only a few words required to unwrap real remorse.

Oh, Nathan …

‘Sephy—’

‘Let’s talk about it later, Sonny,’ I said. ‘At this moment, all I want is my son back.’

‘Sephy, listen—’

‘Not now. Please,’ I said through gritted teeth.

I turned back to Eva who was watching Sonny and me with a great deal of curiosity. A glimmer of understanding played across her face. She tilted her head and nodded slowly. Now we both knew who was responsible for Nathan’s death. And inside … inside, my heart was being fed through a shredder.

A beep interrupted the stillness of the room. Tobey took his phone out of his pocket and read the screen. His body tensed and a strange expression swept over his face, only to be quickly masked. If I didn’t know the man of old, I might’ve missed it. As I watched, he put his phone away, but the tension stiffening his muscles didn’t lessen. He sat up straighter and moved to sit closer to the edge of his seat. I did the same. Something was about to go down and I wanted to be poised and ready for it. Sonny tried to take my hand in his again. I pulled sharply away, unable to even look at him.