‘Is that what your family did?’ Hanson asked, quietly. ‘Cut you off?’

‘You bet they did.’ Issa’s mouth set into an angrier line. ‘I was raised an Ahmadiyya Muslim, with all the preaching of how forgiveness is everything. That we must be tolerant, and seek peace, because those are the true teachings of Islam.’ He gave a bitter smile. ‘It turned out that there are exceptions, according to my parents. Tolerance is only for those of other faiths, not those of other sexualities.’

Hanson winced. ‘I’m so sorry. That’s a terrible thing to go through.’

Issa gave another one of those not-quite-smiles. ‘It goes on being pretty rough, but I’ve made my peace with it.’ He gave a very long sigh. ‘I suppose it was hard to feel sympathy towards Alex for what was a much easier situation.’

Hanson nodded, and let the DCI take over again to ask, ‘When he cheated, was it a one-off? Or a … relationship?’

‘He said it was a one-off,’ Issa said, a note of doubt in his voice, ‘and I didn’t have any reason to think … They hadn’t been working together that long, and he seemed devastated by it. He really did.’

‘Do you recall her name?’

‘Yes.’ He gave her a defiant look. ‘I sometimes look her up, just to make sure she’s really, you know … moved on. She’s called Sarah Lang. But she lives in Monaco now. I doubt she’s going to be of any interest to you.’

Hanson pulled her notebook out and scribbled the name down anyway.

‘Did you ever get the impression he might be pursuing other young women?’ the DCI threw in.

Issa gave a strange shrug. ‘I got angry with him a few times for staying out later than he’d said he would. I didn’t – I didn’t like him hanging around with Step.’

‘You felt he was a bad influence?’ Jonah asked.

‘Maybe.’ He looked upwards, the expression of a man trying to stop himself from crying. ‘Whenever they went out together, Alex seemed to want to party for longer. I had this – this feeling that he was flirting with girls.’

Sheens took out a glossily printed photo of Louise Reakes from his pocket. It had been taken after her arrest. She looked pale and slightly sick-looking. The lighting wasn’t exactly flattering, but she looked like someone who knew she was in big trouble.

‘Do you recognise this woman?’ the DCI asked.

Issa took the photo, and glanced at it before shaking his head. Hanson caught a twist at his mouth, and asked, instinctively, ‘Does she look anything like the woman he slept with?’

‘Yes,’ Issa said, in what was almost a whisper. He looked up at her. ‘There’s quite a similarity.’

Sheens pulled out another photograph. It was the murder weapon in all its gleaming glory.

‘What about this? Might this have been Alex’s?’