She glanced at Patrick Moorcroft, and then said, ‘I want to be able to help. I wish I could, because what happened to him was awful. But I don’t remember anything about the later stages of last night.’ She looked down. ‘I’ve tried. I’ve tried over and over again. But there’s nothing. All I know is that I’ve never done anything violent, and I don’t believe I would have harmed Alex Plaskitt or anyone else.’

Jonah kept his gaze on her. ‘Why would he have been in your bed?’

Louise’s expression changed slightly. A note of discomfort crept in.

‘I can’t think of any reason at all. In five years there’s been nobody in that bed except me, my husband or, on a few occasions, his parents.’ Her mouth twisted slightly. ‘I wasn’t out on the pull, if that’s what you might be thinking. I’ve never cheated on my husband and in the memories I have of yesterday night I was talking to April, not to any men.’

‘And yet Alex ended up there,’ Jonah said. ‘In your bed.’

Patrick leaned over to murmur to her, and Louise said simply, ‘I’ve told you already that I can’t explain it.’

‘You claim never to have met him before,’ Lightman commented.

‘I hadn’t.’

‘It seems unlikely that you would have invited an unknown man back to your house, to sleep in your bed, unless you had a sexual motivation,’ the sergeant went on.

‘Who says I invited him?’ Louise asked, coldly. ‘For all I know he took advantage of me.’

‘Was there any sign of that?’ Jonah asked.

Louise’s face flushed a deep red. ‘I don’t – I don’t know.’

Jonah expected another murmur from her solicitor, but Patrick, surprisingly, said nothing. He kept his gaze on his papers.

‘If you need an examination,’ Jonah said, more gently, ‘we can get you one. If that’s what happened, then it’s important for us to know, as well as for you.’

Louise shook her head, rapidly, and then said, ‘I don’t want an examination.’

Jonah nodded, not without frustration. It wasn’t uncommon for possible victims to panic at the idea of an examination. But Louise could equally well know that she hadn’t been assaulted, and still want to keep the possibility open.

‘Do you often experience complete blackouts after nights out drinking?’ Jonah asked, changing tack.

‘What relevance does that have?’ Patrick Moorcroft asked.

‘It gives us an idea of whether her apparent failure of memory stands up,’ Jonah replied, giving him a level stare. ‘In addition, Mrs Reakes has suggested that Alex Plaskitt might have sexually assaulted her. If she makes a habit of going out and becoming incapacitated through alcohol, it’s possible that she and Mr Plaskitt had met on another occasion, without her remembering it.’