Issa surged to his feet, and, as he stood over her, she felt a return of her earlier fear. There was something not right about the way he was looking at her, and the heavy mug in his hand became a possible weapon.

‘Whatever you tempted him with, it destroyed everything.’

Louise flinched away from him, and then said, her voice as firm as she could make it, ‘I think you need to leave.’

It was ten forty by the time Ben arrived back at Saints Close. Once Issa had left the house and she’d seen Louise Reakes moving around in her kitchen, Hanson had closed the car window again. But it was still freezing in the little Nissan and she was beyond grateful to see that Lightman had brought fast food and hot coffee with him.

‘Oh my God,’ she said, as he climbed into the passenger seat and passed it to her. ‘This might be the best thing you’ve ever done.’

Ben smiled, lifting his coffee to his mouth. And then he paused and said, ‘There was that thing a few months ago where I took a knife off a psychotic woman …’

Hanson took a large bite of cheeseburger and swallowed it before she replied. ‘Nope. This is much better.’

‘Well, that’s good to know. For future reference.’ He chewed for a few moments. ‘What did you think of Issa, when you met him?’

‘By the time we turned up on Saturday morning, I’m pretty sure he hadn’t slept at all,’ Hanson said, considering. ‘And I don’t think his mental state has improved with news of Alex’s death. I’m not sure I’d trust him to be rational right now.’

‘Yeah, I’m not sure sitting in a freezing car outside someone’s house for hours is rational behaviour,’ Ben said. ‘Not if somebody isn’t making you do it, obviously.’

‘Obviously,’ Hanson said, and then sighed. ‘I really want to know what they were talking about. Half of me thinks there’s some kind of conspiracy going on between them, and the other half thinks Louise Reakes might actually be in danger.’

From his position on the sofa, with Jojo’s legs wrapped round his and her head resting on his shoulder, Jonah felt a momentary resurgence of guilt. Ben and Juliette would be sitting in a cold car right now.

He stretched out to grab his phone, dislodging Jojo slightly, and she gave a quiet growl of protest.

‘I was comfortable, Sheens.’

‘Last message of the night, I promise,’ he said, getting hold of the phone and typing out ‘All OK?’ to Hanson.

‘Last message unless something kicks off,’ Jojo countered, as he sent it.

‘Er, well, I was sort of hoping something else might kick off here …’

Jojo shifted around until she was lying directly on top of him. She gave him a narrow-eyed look, her mouth twisting in humour.