‘Not that she definitely hadn’t?’ Dan seemed to have read my mind.

‘No.’ I recalled Indra’s face when she said it. ‘She didn’t seem certain at all. She also told me that Simas didn’t want children and that she hadn’t told him she was pregnant. She said he was definitely the father of the baby, but Artem told us that he wasn’t so sure.’

‘Ah. Don’t kill me. With Mrs Walker’s phone call, I forgot to tell you. Alexej checked who was listed as the baby’s father on the hospital records.’ Dan put his arms up, pretending that I was going to hit him. ‘I’ll bet you a tenner you can’t guess who it is.’

‘Spill.’ I made as though I was going to clip him round the ear.

Shouts from Dougie interrupted me. ‘Maya. Maya. We’ve found something.’

I felt hope soar.

‘Stay there. I’ll bring it out.’

Dan reached the gate before me.

‘There’s petrol on the inside of the hold-all so I reckon it was used to transport the can,’ Dougie told us. ‘But this . . . ? Looks like a burner to me.’ He held up an evidence bag with a mobile phone in it and handed it to me. ‘I’ll get the hold-all processed. We’ve got the prints we need, so your techs can get cracking on the comms data.’

‘Cheers,’ I said.

‘With any luck,’ Dougie added, ‘they’ve been as careless with the phone as everything else.’

11.30 p.m.

11.30 p.m.

When the girl opened her eyes, her head was spinning.

Click, clack. Click, clack.

Someone was sitting at the end of the bed, playing with beads. A dark figure, like on the telly. And wearing a hood.

‘Thirsty,’ she mumbled. ‘Please may I—?’

A gloved hand loomed towards her and everything went black.

Maya, 11.30 p.m.

Maya, 11.30 p.m.

‘For God’s sake, don’t keep me in suspense any longer’, I said. ‘Who’s the father of Indra’s baby?’

Dan and I had the burner and were on our way back to the office.

‘It’s Tomasz Feldman.’

‘Tomasz? That’s a bit messy, if we’re right that he’s seeing Marta now. And I only spoke to Indra a few hours ago. She told me she’d been faithful to Simas, and that he was definitely the baby’s father.’

‘That’s another lie she’s told us,’ Dan said knowingly. ‘Doesn’t make her word seem reliable, does it?’

‘I agree.’ The dashboard clock said eleven thirty. ‘Tomasz’ bar has a late licence at weekends and will still be open. Let’s pay him a visit and find out what’s going on. If Tomasz and Indra were having an affair, that might increase Indra’s motive and give Tomasz one too.’