I’m so sorry, Joe. Please forgive me. Love you xxx

9.03 a.m. Mel mob

Reading the words gave me a painful ache in my chest again. I put the phone back in my pocket without replying and waited another minute to see if Ben was still in his car. It would be better to do it here in the car park near the road, whatever it was he wanted to show me. This was nearer to an escape route, nearer to houses and people and witnesses, rather than some tucked-away part of the park. And I wanted, suddenly, to get it over with.

There was no movement from the Aston Martin. I got out of my car and walked over to where Ben was parked, trying not to walk too fast or too casually, just calm and controlled and taking everything in my stride. I peered into the sports car’s window. A large Costa coffee was in the cup holder, and there was a pile of clothes on the back seat. Almost like he’d emptied them out of a bag to make space for something else. To make space for what?

‘One of his guns was gone.’

I stared at the pile of clothes for a long moment, then switched on the GPS on my phone, checked the map, and set off up a long, winding track that led over a small rise and into a stand of trees. It was a crisp October morning and the birds were making plenty of noise high in the branches, but I saw no one as I tramped up the path, keeping my eyes peeled and my hands out of my pockets, ready to react if necessary. The trees thinned out on one side then disappeared and a small lake took their place. Low autumn sunlight slanted through the trees at my back.

Footsteps behind me. A young woman in a Lycra running top and shorts, jogging with headphones on. She passed by and on up the path without meeting my eye.

The stones on the path clicked beneath my feet, and the open-air theatre came into view across the lake. It looked out of place, a grey concrete amphitheatre in this oasis of green trees and blue water. My pulse was picking up. Show yourself, then. I thought about what I would say to Ben. What do you say to a man who’s been sleeping with your wife? Maybe he still thought Mel would come back to him?

He wouldn’t leave here with any doubts on that score.

The path circled almost all the way round one side of the lake, the bridge coming closer and closer. There didn’t seem to be anyone around but that didn’t mean there was no one there. Trees and bushes stood close to each end, and the open-air theatre itself looked like it offered places to hide.