‘I guess it’ll depend whether she knew about her husband’s infidelities. If that’s his body in their shop, and he was messing around with another woman . . . ’ The thought was upsetting. ‘I’m hoping there will be an innocent explanation for the woman being there. Perhaps the two of them huddled together to escape the fumes?’ One thing was sure, the interview was going to require careful handling.

When we arrived at Indra’s ward, rows of narrow beds greeted us. Nylon curtains hung on rails round each unit. It was hardly private. Marta was sitting beside her sister’s bed on the visitors’ chair, holding Indra’s frail hand. It was bruised, and Marta held it carefully so as not to aggravate the place where the cannula entered the vein.

Indra’s blonde hair lay around her head like a nest, and her eyes looked huge in her gaunt features.

‘I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs Ulbiene. We all are.’

‘Ačiū.’

I pulled up a chair and gathered my thoughts. ‘Would you like your sister to stay with you?’

‘Таip.’ I knew this meant yes. Beside the bed, the drip stand held a bag of clear fluid.

‘I’ll keep it as brief as I can. They aren’t tactful questions, I’m afraid.’

She didn’t react.

‘Is your shop insured?’

‘Таip.’

‘Building and contents cover?’

‘Taip, žinoma.’

‘Are you OK to speak English or do you need an interpreter?’

‘I speak English.’

I smiled an acknowledgement. ‘Do you remember the name of the insurers?’

‘My husband deals with that side of the business. The paperwork is in the flat and . . . ’ Her arm flailed in the air because the rest was obvious. Hopefully, she’d have details of their insurers in an email account.

‘Did your husband have a life insurance policy?’

‘Žinoma, ne.’

‘Does your husband have any family in the UK?’

‘A brother in Bethnal Green.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘Artem Gudelis.’

Dan opened his phone browser.

‘Were they close?’

‘Of course.’

Dan shifted his gaze from his mobile to Indra in the bed. ‘Does Artem run the club COCO?’

‘Таip.’

‘Get hold of him,’ I whispered to Dan. ‘Tell him we need to speak to him in person, ASAP.’

Dan slid away from Indra’s bedside and marched towards the ward exit with his mobile already clamped to his ear.

‘Mrs Ulbiene, did you speak to your husband yesterday?’

‘Таip.’

‘Are these questions necessary?’ Marta stroked her sister’s forehead soothingly. ‘You can see she —’

‘They are,’ I said to Marta. ‘What did your conversation entail?’

‘It was short. We’d just arrived at the hospital and the security man told me I’d need to switch my phone off when we reached the ward.’

‘Was your husband home all day?’

‘As far as I know.’ Indra shielded her face with her hand.

‘What were you doing?’