Harper looked at her hands. She knew that what she was about to do was risky, considering the information she had about Patrick and Natasha’s relationship. She suspected that Lauren wouldn’t know a thing about it, and she wasn’t planning to be the one to tell her. She could question Patrick later, at the station, regarding that. But, it was crucial to discover if Lauren knew Natasha from previous sightings. If Natasha had been spotted by Lauren in any context—even if Lauren wasn’t aware of who Natasha was—it would help to build the case against her. Also, it would be interesting to see what Patrick was willing to admit in front of his wife.

“I’m gathering information about our suspect. I’ve reason to believe that one or both of you know her. Anything you can tell me will help the investigation. I’m trying to establish why she might do something like this. We only have a right to hold her for twenty-four hours, then either charge her or let her go.”

“Why does it matter if we know her or not?” said Patrick. “Didn’t you catch her in the act?”

“The evidence is rather inconclusive, I’m afraid.”

“How can it be? You said you saw it with your own eyes.”

“She claims that what I saw, was her trying to return them to you.”

“So what? She’s lying, obviously. She took them, then changed her mind, decided it was a stupid idea. I mean, you can see why, she wasn’t going to get very far with them. But how does that absolve her of the crime, the fact that she took them in the first place?”

At that moment, a nurse entered the room backwards, pulling a metal drugs trolley. She had red-framed glasses and short black spiky hair, and wore a white tunic and green uniform trousers.

“Medication, ladies,” she called, in the same sort of upbeat voice you might say ice-cream all round. She handed the woman in the corner a small white cup, followed by another, and a beaker of water. After the woman had tipped both cups of medication into her mouth and taken a swig from the beaker, she automatically opened her mouth wide so the nurse could check inside it to see that she’d swallowed.

“Here’s yours, petal,” said the nurse to Lauren, checking a clipboard before handing over the paper cup. Lauren looked at the pills before she took them. She had trouble swallowing, asked for extra water and was given it, gulped it down with effort.

“Open up,” said the nurse, and Lauren paused for so long that Harper thought she would refuse. Then, she tilted her head back and opened her mouth while the nurse shined a small torch inside.

“Thank you,” said the nurse. She wheeled across to the door and exited backside first, pulling the trolley with her.