The officer at the front desk looked up as she breezed into the station, doing her best to disguise her nerves.

‘I’ve come to speak to DCI Barrett.’ She smiled her most innocent smile.

The ginger-haired officer blushed before picking up the phone and calling the incident room.

‘He’ll be down in a minute,’ the officer told her, hanging up the phone. ‘Take a seat over there.’

Kim nodded and did as she was told. A minute later DCI Barrett arrived.

‘Mrs Geller?’ he said, extending his hand.

‘Yes.’ They shook hands and he was surprised by how attractive she was. ‘Good to meet you.’

‘Thank you for agreeing to speak with me.’

‘Anything I can do to help,’ she said, wishing she wasn’t so eager to please.

‘Are any of the interview rooms free?’ Barrett leant over and asked the officer at the desk.

‘Yes, sir. Room three is available.’

From somewhere else in the station Kim heard a man shouting, and hoped they wouldn’t be going anywhere near the holding cells.

‘Come with me,’ Barrett said, leading the way into a small room. ‘Have a seat.’

Barrett sat opposite her as Palmer appeared at the doorway to join them.

‘This is DI Palmer,’ Barrett introduced his colleague. ‘As I said, thank you for offering to help with our enquiries. We’d like to start with you telling us how you knew the victim.’ As Barrett sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, Kim noticed sweat marks on his white shirt.

‘We met about six years ago. She was working at the gym, DW Fitness First. It’s the one at the Beehive centre. After having the twins my stomach wasn’t quite what it used to be.’ She gave a naughty chuckle. ‘So, I thought I’d join the gym and try to get my figure back. Toni was working on reception and we got chatting. I liked her. I thought she was spunky. Not too many like that around.’

‘Was this before or after she met her second husband?’ Palmer asked.

‘Before. She had only just broken up with Mike. That’s why she had that job. She hated it, but because they never had kids he didn’t have to give her any money.’

‘Do you know why the marriage ended?’ Barrett leant in and put his hands on the table.

‘At first she was telling me it was because he was an alcoholic, but one night, when we’d been out for a few drinks, she opened up and told me she’d had an affair.’

The officers looked at each other.

‘I don’t know who, though. She never told me. Used to freeze up any time I mentioned it, so I just stopped mentioning it.’ Kim shrugged.

The disappointment showed on Barrett’s face.

‘Can you tell me about the evening Toni was killed? We want to try and work out her movements.’