‘And then there’s Niall’s strange trip to Zurich,’ Jonah went on. He switched tabs to bring up a zoomed-out version of the route from Geneva to Zurich. ‘We’ve got the receipt for the new flight he booked, and it cost him a small fortune. Zurich is also a three-hour drive from Geneva. O’Malley’s looking to see if he went there to purchase the murder weapon.’

‘And I’ve confirmed there were spaces on flights from Geneva,’ O’Malley commented. ‘For less money, generally. He could have flown straight home.’

Hanson glanced up. ‘But if he went to buy the knife, then the attack was premeditated. That doesn’t tie in with him finding her with another man.’

‘It could, if he was already convinced his wife was cheating,’ O’Malley countered. ‘He may not have known Alex Plaskitt, but he might have had reason to think there was infidelity going on. He could have been planning this for months.’

Lightman shifted slightly, and Jonah asked, ‘Thoughts, Ben?’

Lightman breathed out for a moment. ‘It’s … strange behaviour. If it really was all planned, then it seems unlikely that he would have left the ticket purchase until the last minute. He was running a big risk that he might not get one.’

‘Yes,’ Jonah said, thoughtfully. ‘He was.’

‘Doesn’t it read,’ Hanson asked slowly, ‘more like a sudden crisis? That ex-wife of his …’

‘Dina Weyman,’ Jonah said.

‘Are we positive she isn’t lying?’ She glanced at Lightman. ‘Maybe she did summon him for an urgent conversation.’

‘It’s hard to say,’ Jonah told her. ‘Perhaps we need to see her in person. But Niall Reakes’s story about a job offer is more than a little far-fetched. As you say, his actions sound more like a crisis.’

‘So our hypothetical situation would be that Dina needed to see him in a hurry,’ Lightman said, slowly, ‘for some reason requiring him to get to Zurich first. He was doing something for her, maybe. And then, once they’d met, Dina denied it.’

There was a brief pause, and then Jonah said, ‘Talk to her. And to anyone who knows her.’ He glanced at O’Malley. ‘Didn’t you say April Dumont knows the ex-wife too?’

‘Yeah, she does,’ O’Malley said, and gave a grin. ‘And she doesn’t seem much of a fan of hers, either.’

‘Talk to her, as soon as you can,’ Jonah said.

‘I’ve arranged to see Step Conti again shortly,’ Lightman commented. ‘Should I keep that appointment or bunk it?’

Jonah hesitated. Their priority seemed clear: to dig into everything to do with Niall Reakes. But the possibility of Niall having planned his attack shifted things. It made him wonder whether they were missing a link between him and Alex Plaskitt.