‘Jan. It’s the same person. She just called herself Grace. It was her middle name. I knew her.’

‘It weren’t her middle name, though. I’ve seen the birth certificate. There is no middle name. Anyway, we go back in, you go “no comment”. We get out of here and talk properly later. Understood?’

I take her forearm in my hand so that she faces me when I speak to her. I have to make her understand. ‘It’s her. I’m telling you. I’m not mad. I’m not stupid. It was her.’

‘Look. We are about to go into a police interview. Unless you are in the mood to confess to a murder, I suggest you take my advice. No comment. Got it?’

‘But—’

‘Okay. Let me ask you. Did you kill her? This Grace or Michelle or whatever her name is?’

‘No!’

‘Okay then,’ she says, staring straight at me. ‘No comment.’

We are back in the interview room and Conway has now got a sheet of what look like questions in front of him. Blake is next to him and is corralling papers from a file. They look like they are going into battle.

Conway cautions me again and then introduces my solicitor Janine Cullen, ‘for the tape’.

‘I have advised my client to answer “no comment” to all questions asked,’ she says, as soon as her name is mentioned.

‘Well, Mr Shute, that is your prerogative. But we can still ask the questions. And it is your choice at the end of the day whether to answer any questions. It’s just advice. You’re the one that has to explain in court why you didn’t answer questions.’

‘I understand,’ I say, and immediately Jan gives me a look. ‘No comment.’

‘Mr Shute, would you agree that you reported a murder to us on the 13th of February this year?’

Janine jumps in immediately. ‘That evidence is not admissible. He wasn’t cautioned before he made those comments.’

‘We can let the courts decide admissibility. I’m still going to ask the questions. You reported a murder to us and you gave an address of number 42B Farm Street in Mayfair. Yes?’

‘No comment.’

‘And you described in what I would say is a fair amount of detail the inside of that property. Do you agree?’

‘No comment.’

‘Were you telling the truth when you were describing the property?’

‘No comment.’

‘You described the property right down to the tiles on the floor.’

‘Is that a question?’ says Janine, coming alive.

‘Do you agree you described the tiles in the hallway?’

‘No comment.’

‘In fact, you described it to us on two separate occasions. Do you agree that these police photographs of number 42B Farm Street exactly match your description? For the tape the suspect is being shown exhibit RG/2.’

‘No comment.’