Her tone changed. She gave me a crime number and said an officer would come over this afternoon to collect the evidence, telling me not to touch anything that might have fingerprints on it. I rang off and stood in the middle of my kitchen, unable to take my eyes off the white sheet of paper with five black words scrawled across it.

STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE.

I was too worried to really appreciate it, but the irony was so thick you could cut it with a knife. This man, who was breaking up my family and had tried to take my wife away from me, was warning me off further contact with his wife. It sounds naive, but it was only then – at that moment – that I realised what a sick bastard he really was. He actually meant all of this. I thought of Beth, and what she’d told me earlier. Ben must have driven by his house this afternoon, seen my car outside, and it had spooked him. Was this payback for getting closer to finding him?

Mel would be here in a couple of hours. I thought about ringing her but decided against it – better to tell her face-to-face. Instead I found the spare key for the back door, nudged it shut with the toe of my shoe and locked it again – taking care not to put my fingerprints on anything else.

The phone still in my hand, I added a new message to the conversation with David Bramley.

Stay away from my house, Ben.

The reply came back within a minute.

STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE

I shook my head in disbelief.

Irony klaxon going off here.

His reply was almost instant.

You shd get better security on your back door BTW big fella never know who might b waiting 4 you one of these days

I typed a reply, deleted it. Took a breath and typed it again – without the swear words this time.

You come to my house again, you’ll be leaving feet first. That’s a promise.

As before, his reply came back quickly.

Wd love to see your face today bet its an absolute picture!!!

I slammed my fist on the kitchen table, making cups and plates jump. Calm down.

A minute, two minutes, five minutes. Nothing more. It looked as if he might have gone offline. I wonder if he’s with Mel right now?

No, that’s a stupid idea.

Is it?

There was the familiar dull ache in my chest that I got when I thought about my wife now. Like I wanted to shout until my throat was raw. Wanted to be with her, wrap my arms around her and hold her close, tell her she was forgiven. Tell her we could start again. Maybe all of those things at the same time.