‘Bono, Radiohead, Coldplay? Plus he co-owns three large nightclubs with a massive turnover. Occasionally we holiday in the towns they’re based in, but other than that, we mostly go to the Peak District to stay with my mum and dad. And like I said, I used to be fairly successful myself before I had Alicia.’ I drew breath, steadied myself. ‘We’re doing all right for ourselves, thank you. That doesn’t mean we are criminals.’

She changed tack. ‘So he’s away a lot, your husband. And you keep up with his arrangements, do you?’

‘He travels all the time. It’s normal in his line of work. We both used to, when I worked full time. It’s hard, with three small kids, to keep up with exact schedules.’

DS Montford looked unimpressed. ‘Does he often say he’s out of the country when he’s not?’ She peered at me over black rectangular glasses, like an impatient schoolteacher.

‘Sorry, I don’t follow,’ I said, glancing at the clock. ‘Will this take much longer? I have to collect my twins soon.’

‘Not much longer, no,’ she smiled affably, perusing her notes briefly. ‘The thing is, you’ve just told me Mr Miller’s last business trip was to Vietnam, last month.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Only, according to all our information, he never left the country.’

‘Never left the country,’ I repeated stupidly. My mouth was suddenly dry as sandpaper. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Pretty sure, yes. He never boarded the flight you say he did. He never crossed a border.’

‘But I dropped him at the airport. I spoke to him out there and everything.’ I thought of the crackly line, the shouted conversation. Helen Kelsey’s smug little face reared into my mind. I saw him driving yesterday. I looked at the policewoman. ‘As far as I know, he was abroad.’

‘He wasn’t, you know.’

‘Well, where was he?’

‘As his wife, Mrs Miller, I was hoping that you could have enlightened me on that one.’

I felt a tightening in my chest. I didn’t answer.

‘As it is, we’re just trying to ascertain exactly where he was.’

‘Are you enjoying this?’ I asked her flatly. ‘Because you look like you are.’

‘Just doing my job, Mrs Miller,’ she smiled grimly, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. ‘Just doing my job.’

They wouldn’t let me see James that morning. I knew that they probably couldn’t hold him much longer without charging him: the lawyer said they still hadn’t. But they also wouldn’t free him.

I drove home through hedgerows still bursting with spring. Unbelievable that in the midst of this burgeoning beauty my life had just turned on its head; I feared it was not about to turn back soon. I was just grateful that for now, the children were still oblivious to the situation.