Joseph cursed softly, and decided that he must have taken a wrong turn. If it had been Fenchester Hospital, he could have done it blindfolded, but this place was a maze of unfamiliar clinics and corridors. After a while, he was forced to admit to himself that his usually reliable ‘bump of direction’ had failed him. He was on a long straight passageway that he certainly did not recognize from his trip in.

He walked along it for a while, hopeful that he would find a Way Out sign, then to his relief he spotted two nurses hurrying out of a door at the end of the corridor ahead of him. He speeded up towards them, but by the time he got there, they had disappeared.

He scanned the walls for a hospital plan, a fire drill map, anything that would get him back to the foyer and the car park, but he found nothing. He’d clearly wandered into a completely different wing, and now he felt both tired and pissed off.

‘Can I help you?’

The voice was like an answered prayer.

‘I just want out.’

‘Don’t we all, man!’ Laughed the male nurse. He flashed the whitest of teeth, then pointed to a set of double doors. ‘Go through there, past the High Dependency Unit and you’ll see the lifts. Down one floor, turn right, go 100 yards on, and freedom is yours!’

Thankfully, Joseph made his way through the doors, then froze in his tracks.

Going towards one of the rooms some way ahead of him was his new detective inspector.

For a moment, he queried his observational skills, but as he watched the back of the woman, he knew he had not been mistaken. It was definitely DI Galena.

For some reason, he pulled back and waited for her to go inside.

His mind raced. Why was she here? Had she decided to talk to Callum anyway, and then got as lost as he had? He doubted that very much. This was her patch. She wouldn’t get lost on her own turf. And her stride had been confident. She knew exactly where she was going. He moved slowly forward. And where exactly was that, he wondered?

Almost tiptoeing along the deserted corridor, Joseph approached the room that he had seen her enter.

The door was shut, but there was a small glass window set in it.

Keeping to one side, so as not to be noticed, Joseph glanced inside.

Nikki Galena sat holding a young woman’s hand in hers. The girl, just a teenager, lay unmoving in the bed. He could see Nikki’s mouth working as she talked animatedly, but there was no similar response from the girl. In fact, as far as Joseph could see, there was no response at all.

Joseph swallowed hard, and moved back. He had just witnessed something that was intensely private, and he truly wished he hadn’t.