‘I dunno how to say this, chick,’ Kim lifted the sunglasses off her face, ‘but there is a rumour going around.’

‘A rumour?’

‘Yes,’ Kim swallowed, it was now or never, ‘about Grant and Toni.’

‘What kind of rumour?’ Shirley’s eyes narrowed.

‘That they had been having an affair.’ Kim held her breath, waiting for Shirley’s reaction.

‘Well, it’s not true.’ Shirley dismissed it as if it had been the wrong order at a restaurant. ‘Complete rubbish.’

‘I’m not saying it isn’t, but,’ Kim chewed her lip, ‘there’s a bit more to it than that.’

Shirley’s eyes burned into Kim’s. ‘What else?’

‘My neighbour,’ Kim pointed over the garden fence, ‘well, her daughter is at school with Kayla. It seems Kayla’s been saying that her dad was sleeping with Toni and he killed her.’

Shirley remained expressionless.

‘She’s been telling people at school that if they mess with her, then her dad will come for them.’

Shirley laughed, much to Kim’s surprise. ‘That’s mental. Completely mental.’

‘Well,’ Kim felt herself blush, ‘that’s what I said, but I thought you should know.’

‘Kayla always did have an overactive imagination.’ Shirley poured herself another glass of wine and Kim thought she saw her hand tremor.

‘I didn’t know how to tell you,’ Kim continued, ‘but I thought you should know. Something like that could do a lot of damage. Especially while there is a murder investigation going on.’

‘It’s bollocks. All of it. Bollocks.’ Shirley watched Kim, realising there was more to come.

‘The other thing that she’s been saying, is that her dad got Toni pregnant.’

After seeing the recording that was saved to Janet Cox’s iCloud account, Barrett, Palmer, and a number of other officers ran out of the building and got in their cars; they now knew who was responsible for the murders, and it was time to arrest them.

‘He’s made it out of surgery.’ The nurse who had earlier delivered bad news, was smiling as she gave Amy the update. ‘He is stable. We are going to keep him heavily sedated for the moment, but you can go and see him, if you like.’

Amy’s shoulders dropped and she smiled over at Marion and Maggie. The relief on her face was a joy to see.

‘Thank you,’ Amy said, as she hugged the nurse.

‘We’ll need to monitor him carefully but the operation was a success.’ The nurse, who had been on a long shift, looked tired but equally relieved.

‘Go and see him, pet,’ Marion encouraged. ‘Maggie and I will go and get some food in the concourse. Do you want us to get you anything?’

Amy turned as she was leaving the room. ‘Yes, please. I want a double cheeseburger with everything on it.’ Her smile informed her friends that she was back to her good old self and everything would be okay.