‘Welcome back,’ Gaby was saying, and Clare tried to focus on her, making an effort to smile. Gaby explained she had recently suffered a family tragedy while on holiday in St Andrews and it had brought her into contact with police officers from the town. And then they were chatting. Clare began to realise why Gaby was so successful. She had a wonderful way of putting guests at their ease and she felt herself relaxing into the interview. She couldn’t quite forget the presence of the cameras, but it really did feel like a conversation between two friends.

And suddenly Gaby was thanking her, saying what a pleasure it was to chat and she hoped Clare would come back again soon. She then turned to another camera and began to talk about the next item. Clare was aware that the red light on the camera had gone off but she sat on, smile fixed until Gaby introduced a short video piece. The technician then appeared at her side to remove the mic and Gaby walked across.

‘Clare, you were fab! Well done. Twitter’s full of it already, judging by the updates on my phone.’

‘Thirty seconds, Gaby,’ someone called, and Gaby rolled her eyes.

‘Better get back. I’ll be in touch.’

Clare was led back across the studio by the technician and through the heavy door. Back in the green room the DCI was full of it. ‘You were brilliant,’ he said, taking her in his arms and hugging her. ‘My phone’s buzzing with it.’

Clare felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. ‘Was it really okay?’

‘More than okay.’

Jess appeared and smiled. ‘Bloody brilliant, Clare,’ she said. ‘Twitter’s gone bonkers.’

They collected their coats and Jess led them back through the maze of corridors to the reception desk where they handed back their lanyards. As they approached the front door Clare switched her phone on and it immediately began to buzz. She stood inside the door waiting for her messages to load.

‘One from Chris,’ she said. She clicked to open it and saw a hyperlink. It took a few seconds for the link to load. ‘Oh,’ Clare said. ‘It’s a TikTok video.’ She looked at the DCI. ‘I’ve never used it. You?’

He shook his head. ‘Let’s see then.’

She held out her phone so they could watch then saw herself appear on the screen. She was sitting on the couch speaking to Gaby and had put out her arm, as if explaining something. But Chris had edited the video so her arm went in and out repeatedly, and he’d added an audio clip of The Hokey Cokey.

‘That’s really clever,’ the DCI said. ‘Look at this bit: in-out-in-out – he’s matched it to your arm movements.’

‘I’m going to kill him.’

‘Eight thousand views already,’ the DCI said. ‘Clare, you’re a TikTok sensation!’