‘At the moment, we don’t know who or what was the target of the fire.’ I spoke gently. ‘As long as we only have your husband’s ID, we only have half the information we need to find out who did this.’

She looked up now and fixed her eyes on mine. They were deep, dark green. ‘You might think so, but the truth is I have no idea. When Simas and I moved to Brick Lane, and bought the shop, we said we’d make a fresh start.’ She stopped, as if she wanted to check whether she was sure about what she was going to say. ‘We made a pact. He’d stop shagging other women and I’d stop being suspicious. I wasn’t convinced, but eventually I let Simas persuade me.’

I knew what was coming.

‘Unfortunately, only one of us kept our word.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that. I know it must be incredibly painful to talk about and it’s rubbish timing after . . . ’ I couldn’t say it. ‘We spoke to a shopkeeper who told us you’d accused her of having an affair with Simas. She said you apologised, and admitted that you’d made a mistake. Now, that’s none of our business except that she said that you know who the woman is.’

Indra’s eyes narrowed.

‘Who is she?’

‘She’s lying.’

‘Are you sure you don’t know?’ I asked gently. ‘If it was her in the fire, she may have parents somewhere who are out of their mind with worry. What if she’s got a child at home?’ I thought of the Polish woman at Alchemia, looking after her dad. ‘Or an elderly relative?’

‘She’s making it up. She’ll just be saying it to make herself look like a victim.’ Her mouth contorted as the words came out. ‘I bet it was that red-haired woman who sells clothes? Natassja?’

The force of Indra’s anger hit me, and I stood up and took a deep breath. I understood how betrayed she must feel and knew her anger wasn’t directed at me. I kneeled in front of the wooden table where Indra was sitting, and spoke gently. ‘If you know the names of any of the women your husband had relationships with, Mrs Ulbiene, please tell us so that we can find out who is responsible for his death.’