Callanach decided against asking just how much time she’d spent watching him. What mattered now was her motive for revealing herself.

‘If I’d known you were outside, I’d have invited you in before now. You should have let me know. There’s no reason for us not to be friends any more.’

‘I’m glad you think so. I felt that between us. It’s why I came back. I always knew we’d get past that misunderstanding before. You’re looking good yourself.’ Astrid let her gaze meander down his torso and Callanach wished he’d taken the time to put a T-shirt on. ‘Listen, Luc, I know it’s late, but I really do need to come in. We have to figure out what we’re going to do about this situation we’ve found ourselves in.’

‘Situation?’ Callanach asked.

‘A certain pair of enemies of ours? The lovely Bruce and Gilroy. Probably best not to talk where anyone could overhear me saying their names,’ she whispered with a conspiratorial smile.

Callanach thrust his hands into his pockets, keeping it casual, feeling his blood pressure rising. Enemies of ours. So that was it. It wouldn’t have been a problem, only he’d lied in his statement to Pax Graham about his reason for visiting Jenson and at best he’d withheld information relating to Gilroy Western. The fact that Astrid had physically killed the two men was irrelevant if she planned on saying he’d asked her to do it on his behalf. That lie alone would be enough to end his career and might well be sufficient to put him at the centre of a double murder trial. He couldn’t let her inside his flat. The presence of her DNA would only add to claims of a criminal conspiracy. If she wasn’t going to leave the easy way, there was no option except the hard way.

‘I’m sorry, Astrid, but we can’t discuss that here. Whatever information you have, you should give to the police, anyone except me. I don’t know anything about their deaths but I’m a potential witness, so I can’t talk to you about their cases. You should probably go now.’

‘At last!’ she grinned. ‘Some reality. Look, I didn’t expect this to be plain sailing. We always have to get through a certain amount of bullshit with each other, don’t we? At least this time we kept it brief. You have to let me in, Luc. There’s really no choice.’

‘There’s always a choice, Astrid. Like I said, you can leave me your number, if you like, and we’ll find another time to talk. I’m going to shut the door now. Goodbye.’ He took a step back and began closing up.