Shit. The story we told Beth on Saturday.

‘Oh?’ was all I could manage.

‘She told PC Khan that there was an argument. That Mr Delaney ended up on the deck.’

‘Erm. Yeah.’ I could feel my face getting hot. ‘That’s what happened. I had to leave in a hurry to get my son’s inhaler because he was having an asthma attack. And when I went back to the hotel soon after, Ben had left.’

‘You had a fight.’

‘He hit me, I pushed him. It wasn’t really a fight.’

‘Why didn’t you tell PC Khan that, Joe?’

I felt like I was ten years old again, standing in the headmaster’s office. At the same time I was annoyed that Mel couldn’t have just stuck to the story we agreed.

‘I’m sorry, I should have. But Ben’s wife came over on Saturday and was asking about him, so Mel gave her the story about the car to cover my back, and then I said the same thing to your colleague so Beth wouldn’t find out she’d lied.’

‘I see,’ Naylor said.

‘All that’s by the by now, of course, after what happened yesterday.’ I held my hands up. ‘I’m sorry, it was stupid. Stupid.’

‘So she lied to Beth Delaney and then you lied to a police officer.’

‘She was trying to protect me, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Beth was upset, she was crying, I was going to tell her the truth but then Mel jumped in with this story about me reversing into his Porsche. I thought she’d say the same to the policeman. All we were trying to do was help find Ben.’

‘You thought she’d lie to the police for you?’

I could feel the sweat beneath my shirt.

‘No, that’s not what happened. She told the truth.’

‘Or maybe both of you are lying.’

‘I’m sorry, it was dumb. I’m a terrible liar, as you can probably tell.’

Naylor nodded.

‘Lying well is a lot harder than most people think. Things gets complicated, people lose track. “A liar should have a good memory”, so they say. Most people don’t, not for this kind of thing.’

‘So what are you saying? That you don’t believe me?’

‘I’m saying nothing – we’re just trying to track a man down. A prominent, successful, well-off businessman who seems to have disappeared. Do you know where he might be?’

‘No idea. But he hasn’t disappeared.’

Naylor frowned and cocked his head to one side slightly.

‘Hasn’t he?’

‘I told you: I saw him this morning.’

‘Is that another lie?’

‘No. I swear.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely. Mel spoke to him on the phone yesterday, and he’s been texting me.’

Naylor made another note on his pad.