‘Foolish? Idiotic? Reckless? I’m not going to make up excuses. There were real reasons for going there tonight, to visit the scene and see if there was any evidence worth protecting or that might bolster Ailsa’s theory. I hadn’t intended to climb the wall. I just got that sudden burst of adrenaline. The dark, the wildness, the sense of adventure.’ She put her coffee down and rearranged the ice on her head. ‘I don’t know, Luc. I spend so much time sitting at my desk, doing paperwork and giving orders, sending other people out to crime scenes, hearing about other officers’ experiences. I feel as if I’ve lost touch with everything I joined the force to do. All police officers have a healthy dose of hero syndrome. It’s why we throw ourselves into the middle of fights, and – yes – dangle off high walls to preserve that one piece of evidence that’ll be gone by morning. I don’t have a death wish. Quite the opposite. I need to feel alive again.’

‘Damn, I forgot the bath,’ he said, dashing off towards his bedroom.

She heard the water stop flowing and cupboard doors banging. He reappeared holding two huge crimson towels and offering her a hand up.

‘Ava, I understand you’re feeling stuck, but you could have died tonight. That’s more than just desk boredom.’

‘It’s not just my desk,’ she groaned as she hobbled towards his bathroom. ‘There’s nothing – and no one – to go home to. Work is my whole life, so when I’m not sure why I’m doing it any more … God, listen to me moaning. I love my job, you know that. But I’m in my mid-thirties. I haven’t been in a relationship in forever, and the last one I did try was a disaster. My best friend calls me a work-in-progress and that might be funny if it weren’t true. I don’t go out. I don’t do social media. I can’t even bloody well cook! How sad is it to count down the hours until you’re back behind the desk you’re starting to hate?’

She dropped the blanket on the bathroom floor and pulled her top over her head. Callanach turned away to give her some privacy. Ava winced audibly as she lowered herself into the hot water.

‘I’ll give you some space,’ Callanach said, reaching for the door handle.

‘Actually, could you stay?’ she asked quietly. ‘I mean, with your back turned, obviously. I may be sad and lonely but I’m not that desperate.’

‘Charming,’ he laughed, sitting in the bathroom doorway but staring out into his bedroom, his suitcase as yet unpacked on the floor and his passport thrown onto the bedcovers. ‘Dizzy?’