‘Fuck, fuck, fuck.’ Beth drops the key and wonders if her heart is going to explode through her ribcage.

‘God, sorry, Mrs Packard. It’s me, DC Stone – I didn’t mean to frighten you. That was really stupid of me, under the circumstances.’

Beth’s heart skids to a halt. She watches the detective lean down, retrieve her house key, straighten up. ‘What circumstances?’ she asks.

‘Shall we go inside?’

Beth wants to say no. When DC Stone walked out of her house last Tuesday, he said it was all over, and she scrubbed his presence away. But Saskia might be on her way home now, and Beth can’t stand the thought of her friend – or ex-friend maybe – seeing the detective standing on her doorstep. ‘Okay,’ she agrees. She manages to slide the key in and pushes open the door.

Luna starts barking as soon as the detective comes into view. Beth holds a chew out to distract her, and watches the young dog take it from her hand, then retreat to her daybed, her tail wagging with excitement. It reminds Beth how effective generosity can be. She takes a deep breath and turns to face the detective. ‘Tea? Coffee?’ she asks, smiling warmly.

‘I’ll take a cup of tea, thanks.’

Beth pulls a mug out of the cupboard, drops in a teabag and covers it with spitting water from the hot tap. Then she pours some milk into a tiny jug and slides them both in front of him. The sugar bowl comes next, and finally she produces a teaspoon and a small dish for his used teabag.

‘Thanks,’ he murmurs. ‘I never realised tea was this complicated.’

Beth smiles again, but it’s tighter this time. ‘You mentioned circumstances?’ she prompts.

‘Your husband called me this morning, to make an allegation about that man from the squat, Mark Sullivan. He told me about the note you received. I’m so sorry this is happening to you. You really don’t deserve it.’

Of course she doesn’t fucking deserve it. She tried to do a good deed and now she’s got a threatening note and a fucking policeman leaving tea stains on her worktop. And a husband who lies, breaks his promise, thinks he knows best. ‘Thank you,’ she says, forcing herself to meet DC Stone’s eye, to give the impression that she means it. ‘But he really shouldn’t have bothered you.’

‘Don’t be silly; that’s what I’m here for. Have you still got the note?’

She pauses for a moment. ‘Sorry, no. I shredded it this morning; I just want to forget about it.’

‘Ah, that’s a shame.’

‘I don’t want things to escalate.’

‘It’s harder without the evidence, but it’s still a serious allegation. If I could take a statement from you, that would give us enough to caution him, and that might do the job of scaring him off.’