‘I hope you’re right,’ Cleo said, dubiously.

‘So do I.’ He leaned across the dog to reach his glass. ‘So other than Humphrey snarling at Noah, how was your day?’

‘It started well with a lovely pregnancy massage at Sarah Hurst’s down in Brighton. The best massage ever! I think you could do with some massages to de-stress.’

‘Yep, but I’m not pregnant.’

She tried to hold back a smile and failed. ‘They do other types. I’m sure they have a stressed copper one.’

‘I could do with that.’

‘Oh, before I totally forget, I need to ask you something. I was chatting online on my class forum this morning. There’s a fellow student, nice lady who I’ve met a few times, Alison Stevens. She DM’d me because she wanted some advice for her daughter who’s doing a dissertation about jury service.’

‘Go on,’ he said, interested.

‘Well, she knows I’m married to a very important senior police officer,’ she said, buttering him up. ‘She needs to know how someone could nobble a jury. I said I’d ask you what you know.’

‘Yeah, I’d be happy to have a chat with her, if she wants. It won’t be for at least a couple of weeks as I’m tied up on this murder investigation.’

‘Fine, I’ll let her know.’

‘Jury nobbling does go on but not as often as people think. It’s pretty rare, these days.’

73

Monday 20 May

Meg sat in the jury box, trying to follow the Financial Investigator, Emily Denyer, as she continued to give her complicated evidence. For the second day, she was talking the jury through a mountain of spreadsheets, detailing transactions through an increasingly complex network of offshore bank accounts. She listed dates of transactions, amounts, what credits and debits had occurred, and highlighted ones that she considered to be of specific interest.

In truth, Meg was completely lost, and she could see from the expressions of some of her fellow jurors that they were, too. She was struggling to remain focused. There had been no word over the weekend from Laura. Her daughter usually responded to her calls or messages within a few hours. She decided if she hadn’t heard by the end of the court session, she would try to call Cassie. She really didn’t want to bring Cassie’s parents into this yet – that would not be a good move in the eyes of the people watching her.

On top of that, she was deeply worried that she’d said too much to Alison on Thursday night and by what the man had threatened. They’d met for a coffee yesterday morning and Ali had assured her she was keeping everything to herself. Trust me, she’d said.

Meg had to; she had no choice.