‘The question we have to ask is how you managed to describe the location of a murder from almost thirty years ago?’

‘No comment.’

‘Because if there is an innocent explanation, we’d like to hear it. Do you have one?’

‘No comment.’

‘Do you think you might have, say, read a news story about the murder?’

‘No comment.’

The questions, each of them, make me cringe. But I expect them – all of them. I am a fish in a barrel being machine-gunned.

They continue like this for almost an hour. I can’t look at Blake. It is as if I have disappointed her.

Eventually the questions lose their power. The repetition becomes bland. I begin to fade in and out of concentration. No comment I say to everything. It becomes so much of a rhythm that I almost miss it when it happens.

‘This photograph of the deceased. For the tape exhibit RG/5. Is that you in the picture?’

‘No comment.’

‘Is there an innocent explanation for you being in a picture with the deceased?’

I want to scream the answer. We were lovers! I look at Jan for permission but she doesn’t give it. The questions grind on.

Were you in a relationship with Michelle? Did you live together? Did you two split up? What was the reason for that if you did? Did she find someone else? Or did you? Did you have any reason to feel jealous about her?

‘We believe that you were both in a relationship before she died. We also believe that you disappeared soon after her death. What was the reason for you disappearing?’

‘That’s not a proper suggestion, Officer. There is no evidence that Mr Shute disappeared,’ Jan snaps, cutting in again briskly.

‘Well, if you didn’t disappear, where did you go?’ Conway continues.

‘Again, Officer, there is no evidence that he went anywhere.’

‘Well, that is for you to answer, Mr Shute. Where did you go? There’s no record of you on any electoral roll.’

‘No comment.’

‘We did some digging into the file and we found that Michelle had a number of bank accounts. Were you aware that she was earning a considerable salary at the time of her murder?’

‘No comment.’ I say the words but alarms are going off in my head.

‘We found some bank account statements in the file. There is this one statement for a dollar account that we found. And we found something quite interesting. And I think you know what that is, Mr Shute.’

Jan looks appalled. Her expression changes as if she is making a decision of some kind.

‘This bank statement, exhibit RG/6 for the tape, shows a dollar account in the name of Mackintosh and Shute. Is the Shute on that account you, Mr Shute?’

The room begins to press in on me. I look to Jan but her face has set hard. Whatever she is deciding has begun to take shape.