‘Short term, we see this out tonight. When they come back in here they’ll start with the questioning all over again, right from the beginning.’ He checked his watch. ‘After that, we try to get bail get you back home to your family tonight. Then it’s just a case of seeing what they come up with, staying calm and keeping our powder dry.’

‘What else?’ I said.

He looked at me, cool and level, his face absolutely without expression.

‘Pray the police don’t find anything at that country park.’

Chapter 60

60

Mel hugged me and gave me a large whisky when I finally got home just before 11 p.m. We sat at the kitchen table and I gave answers to her questions about Naylor and Ben, about evidence and accusations, pictures on Facebook and mobile phone data. About what might happen next. It was beyond weird not being able to completely trust my wife, my soulmate. While I wanted to confide in someone other than my solicitor, Mel still had a way to go before she regained my trust. So I kept my answers short and basic.

She decided I was in shock.

‘Poor Joe. You poor thing. You’re exhausted, aren’t you? What a day, what a horrible day.’

She hugged me again, her warm breath on my cheek, the soft floral scent of her perfume stirring all kinds of wonderful memories. It felt so good, so right, that my guard almost crumbled right there. I wanted more than anything to hug her back, bury my head in her shoulder, tell her she was forgiven. Tell her I wanted more than anything for life to go back to how it was before Thursday night. Tell her I loved her. Tell her everything.

But the barb of betrayal was buried deep, and it made my heart ache with sadness whenever I looked at her.

Ben will be out of our lives soon. And then we will find forgiveness, and we will start again.

She poured us both another whisky and put a hand on my cheek, her fingertips warm and soft. She leaned in and kissed me, a long, tender kiss that made everything else fall away, all of today’s anxiety and fear about what tomorrow might bring. I closed my eyes and it was like being sixteen again, kissing the prettiest girl at the party.

She broke off but stayed close, her forehead against mine.

‘It’s going to be OK,’ she breathed.

‘It’s not looking great at the moment.’

‘The police can’t do anything to you. You haven’t done anything to Ben.’

‘They seemed pretty gung-ho today.’

‘Sooner or later they’ll see.’

I took a large swallow of whisky, enjoying the burn as it went down.