‘Do you think that’s wise?’ Alfred’s words were loaded with caution.

‘Why ever not?’ Marion blinked.

‘Well, you knew stuff about his wife.’ He let the statement hang in the air. ‘I just don’t want you getting caught up in this. You have to take care of yourself. Especially with your blood pressure.’

‘You daft bugger.’ Marion put down her cup and wrapped her arms around her husband. ‘You don’t need to worry about me.’

‘But I do, love.’ He planted a kiss on the top of her head and they remained embracing for a moment. ‘I think you did the right thing not saying anything about the affair.’

Marion looked up at her husband. ‘It’s not my job to destroy someone else’s marriage.’

‘No, it’s not,’ Alfred paused, ‘but there may come a time when you do have to say something.’

‘I really hope not,’ she sighed. ‘Enough people have been hurt already without me sticking my beak in.’

‘I have faith you’ll do the right thing.’ He smiled down at his wife. ‘You’re a good woman, Marion Bolton.’

‘And you’re a good man, Alfred Bolton.’ She squeezed his waist. ‘I’m lucky to have you.’

Back in the incident room Palmer and Barrett were disappointed to discover the pizza had been finished.

‘OK,’ Barrett clapped his hands, ‘listen up. We’ve spoken to Marion Bolton, who hosted the book club on the night Toni Jones died. She told us that Toni Jones was raped, and that was the reason for the abortion. At this stage, I have no reason to believe that Mrs Bolton is lying. Tomorrow, I want to speak to Erica …’ he checked his notes, ‘Clutterbuck.’ A snigger went around the room. ‘Yes, yes,’ Barrett dismissed the giggles. ‘Erica works at the clinic on Bateman Street. She witnessed Mrs Jones arriving for her termination. Now, I don’t need to remind you that this is a very delicate situation. This information needs to be handled with the strictest confidence. I need to talk to Erica in the morning. For now, I want you to look into Mrs Jones’ medical records. See if you can find anything that might be of interest.’ Heads nodded around the room. ‘Back to work.’

Barrett returned to his office, summoning Elly Hale and Palmer as he went.

‘You two,’ he said, sitting down at his desk and folding his hands together, ‘I want you both to go and interview Erica tomorrow. I want to know if Toni said anything about who might have fathered the child. I want to know how far into the pregnancy she was. Visit Erica Clutterbuck at her home. I don’t want this getting out yet.’