He dragged on a pair of jeans and jogged to his apartment door, peeping through the spyhole for just a second before opening up, deferring to muscle memory rather than exercising caution. The mistake he’d made dawned on him only when the door was already fully open. He’d seen a woman’s face in profile when he’d looked through the spyhole, a hoodie covering her hair, her features only semi-visible in the dim glow of the corridor’s night lights.

‘Hello,’ she said, smiling wanly, looking more like a lost child than anything else.

‘Astrid. What do you want?’

The question was only to buy him thinking time. He knew what she wanted. Him. Astrid Borde had disappeared from his life more than a year ago and in his naivety, he’d chosen to believe she was gone forever. Not so, and now it seemed utterly ridiculous that he’d let his guard down.

‘We have to talk, Luc,’ she said softly, her voice plaintive and silky in the silence.

‘It’s the middle of the night. If you give me your number or an address, we could meet up tomorrow. Now’s not really a good time.’

He glanced towards his bedroom, keeping it subtle, hoping she’d believe there was someone else there. As much as he didn’t want her in his apartment, aggressive rejection wasn’t the right tactic for handling someone so unpredictable. Jenson and Western were dead, and suddenly the perpetrator of those crimes was no longer a mystery to him. If Astrid had been delusional and obsessed before, she’d progressed into full psychopathy.

‘You’re pretending there’s someone here? Oh, darling, don’t lie to me. It’s beneath you. But I understand, this is a shock. You never did like being taken by surprise. Why don’t you get us coffee and we’ll make small talk while you get used to having me around again.’

Callanach glanced across to his neighbour’s door. He could raise his voice, make a fuss, wake her up, but Astrid – this new Astrid – was an unknown quantity. Dragging anyone else into his mess was unacceptable. He had to handle it himself.

‘It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you. In fact, I’ve been wondering where you were and how you were doing. I’m glad we left the past behind us and moved on. You look great, by the way. Your hair’s shorter.’

Astrid touched it then flicked it slightly, a smile flitting across her face.

‘It’s just that I have to be up early to go into work,’ he added.

‘Really? Only you haven’t been into the station for a while. Why is that?’

‘I’ve been off sick,’ he lied. ‘Stomach flu.’

‘And yet you’ve managed several trips to the gym.’