They came to a stop next to Lightman’s desk. Ben was typing up a report, presumably of his interview with April.

‘What did April Dumont have to say?’ Hanson asked.

‘A few things,’ Lightman said, thoughtfully. ‘She agrees that she kissed Alex Plaskitt, but had no idea he was the victim. She doesn’t think Louise would have gone home with Alex, either. She says it’s not what she does. Interesting observations on Step Conti, though.’

The DCI raised an eyebrow.

‘He was apparently very upset when Alex and April kissed. April thought he might actually be jealous that Alex had kissed someone else. She saw some intense conversations going on between the two of them afterwards.’

Hanson cast her mind back to Alex’s self-contained friend. He had seemed genuinely upset at Alex’s death. Surprised, too. Or at least good at pretending to be.

‘He did seem close to Alex,’ she said, thoughtfully. ‘Might he have been secretly obsessed with him? Or even seeing him behind Issa’s back?’

‘Nothing has pointed in that direction so far,’ Sheens said. ‘But it’s worth looking at.’

‘I suppose,’ Hanson went on, ‘if he was obsessed, then if he’d seen Alex get together with yet another woman, that might have driven him to do something stupid.’

‘I wouldn’t mind getting other views on Step Conti,’ the DCI agreed. ‘Let’s try Alex’s sister.’ He turned to Ben. ‘Anything else from April?’

‘Yes. A small but potentially interesting other thing,’ Lightman said. ‘Louise lost her driving licence in the club. I wondered if Alex might have tried to return it to her.’

‘Interesting,’ the chief agreed. His expression was thoughtful. ‘I need some more coffee and some time to think. Anyone want anything from Costa?’

‘As many chocolate twists as they have,’ Hanson said. And then she added, ‘God, and I’d better do some exercise later. I’ve done nothing for days.’

She didn’t add that she’d largely stopped running because of Damian. It had lost a lot of its charm once she’d started looking over her shoulder for him. She’d ended up running in the gym instead, and she didn’t enjoy it in the same way. Getting there was also needlessly time-consuming, so she inevitably went less often.

But as she settled herself at her desk, she decided that a run would be a good idea. She was going to face up to being alone, in darkness, and enjoy it. The threat of her ex had become less real. More ridiculous. She wished she’d told Ben about it earlier.