‘Well. I suppose he didn’t really fit in at home. In staid old Surrey.’ There was a note of slightly cutting irony to the remark. ‘He changed when he went to school, and then more at university, in Brighton. He fell in with a … a group that wasn’t what we really wanted. We felt that he’d been led astray. That they’d indoctrinated him.’ Alex’s father sighed. ‘I suppose we let our disapproval be known a little too much, and Alex decided it was easier not to see us.’

‘I see,’ Jonah said, wondering at Mr Plaskitt’s calm. At his collected, unemotional speech, when his son had just been murdered. Everyone dealt with news of death differently, but Alex’s father seemed to be barely affected by it. ‘So when was the last time you saw him?’

‘It would have been … the Christmas before last. So a little over a year ago.’ There was a trace of emotion this time. Embarrassment, Jonah thought.

‘And did anything in particular happen then? A … disagreement?’ Jonah asked.

There was a pause once again, and then Mr Plaskitt said, ‘No more than at any other family Christmas. Emotions ran high, and Alex got upset that we weren’t being kind enough to his other half. Which was an unfair accusation. We have always welcomed him into our home, despite the personal pain we’ve felt.’

Jonah could well imagine why they felt pain at Alex’s marriage, and decided to shift the topic of conversation.

‘I’m happy to come to Surrey to talk further, but it might be that you’d prefer to come here, to Southampton.’

‘Oh. Yes. Well, it doesn’t sound like there’s any need for that right now, does it?’

Jonah heard a very faint indrawn breath from Hanson.

‘It might be more for your benefit, Mr Plaskitt,’ he said, gently. ‘To allow you to ask questions and talk to Alex’s friends.’

‘Edward, please,’ Alex’s father replied. He hesitated before saying, ‘I’ll discuss it with my wife. It might be better, anyway, for you to see our daughter, Phoebe. She lives in Winchester, so she’s much closer to you.’

‘Thank you,’ Jonah said. ‘Would you be able to give us her details?’

He let Hanson write them down, and then said, ‘In the interim, I’ve asked the community support officer to stay with you.’

‘I … No, that won’t …’ Edward’s voice sounded defensive. Almost angry. ‘I think we’d prefer to grieve in private, if you don’t mind.’

‘Of course. I understand. Thank you for your help, Edward.’

Jonah ended the call, and the moment it showed up as complete, Hanson said, ‘That was like a lesson in respectable homophobia. That poor lad, having a dad like that! Talking about how “painful” it was, having to socialise with his husband …’