‘Let me talk to him,’ he said to Fraser. It was hot in the trailer, and the air was becoming humid with their perspiration.

The hostage negotiator shook his head but Patrick turned to Suzanne. ‘Please, tell him to let me do it. I understand him and I’m the only person here he’s met, even if it did end with him whacking me with a paperweight. I’m the only one he’s got a rapport with, however messed up. Let me try to talk him round.’

The DCI hesitated for a moment then said to Fraser, ‘Let him.’

Fraser acquiesced, informing Koppler that he was handing over. He passed the phone to Patrick, who had to resist a brief temptation to wipe the sweat off it first.

‘Dr Koppler,’ he said. ‘This is Detective Inspector Patrick Lennon. How are you feeling?’

The psychiatrist didn’t answer straight away and Patrick thought he might have hung up. He knew this was risky. Then Koppler said, ‘I should be asking you that, detective.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about me. My head is made of steel.’

‘What are you trying to do, detective? Talk me round? Try to be my friend?’

Patrick was keenly aware that everyone was watching him. Carmella, Suzanne, Fraser. Hardy, still with his arms folded, a deeply sceptical look on his face.

‘No,’ Patrick said. ‘None of that. I just want to give you the chance to talk, and I’ll listen. Because I bet you never get the chance to do that, do you? In your profession, others tell you all their problems, and you listen to them. But I reckon you deserve the chance to do the talking for once. Let others know how you feel.’

He felt foolish speaking the words, they sounded so clichéd and ridiculous to him, and for a moment he wished he hadn’t insisted on trying to do Fraser’s job for him. If Koppler was a bona fide psychiatrist he wouldn’t for a second buy all that guff – he was a highly intelligent individual who wouldn’t be taken in by impassioned rhetoric.

But to Patrick’s surprise, Koppler seemed to take the bait: ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Oh, I do, doctor. I know what it’s like to find yourself in a situation that you think there’s no way out of. When all you can see ahead of you is darkness. But I found a way through the darkness – and you will be able to as well.’