Telling this bastard exactly what I think of him, she signed back to me, her eyes blazing. I can’t believe he’s allowed to supervise children. How do you know he wasn’t the one who killed the head teacher?

Mike was watching all this with a raised eyebrow, a smug expression on his face.

‘Can’t control your tempers, can you? You’re both the same, a pair of hysterical bitches.’

I rounded on him. ‘What the hell? A couple of days ago you were apologising to me and begging to talk to me, then you throw that insult at me?’

He looked genuinely embarrassed. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘She got me so worked up.’

For a moment I was about to accept his apology, until my brain waved a little red flag at me. Whenever he got angry at me, his eventual apologies were empty, and usually involved blaming me. ‘I’m sorry, you just make me so angry’ was one of his most common phrases. Now he was just switching to gaslighting my sister instead of me.

‘Piss off, Mike. And don’t come back here.’

I saw his fists clench and I tensed, ready for flight, but with a curl of his lip he backed away.

‘Okay. Well, hopefully we can get together soon and have a chat,’ he said, his jaw tight with pent-up anger.

Mike walked towards the pavement, glancing back at me as he went. Anna and I went inside, but she didn’t ask for an explanation until she’d locked the door behind us.

What did he really want?

I have no idea. You didn’t give him the chance to tell me. I knew I couldn’t tell her about his sudden desire for closure on our relationship. She would fly off the handle, accuse me of getting involved with him again. That wasn’t what was happening, but I didn’t think she’d understand.

She frowned. I’ve just thought. What if he wanted to tell you something about the case or the missing kid?

Then he can tell the police, which is what any normal person would do, I told her, surprised she’d even suggested it.

You’re right, she signed, stepping forward to give me a hug. She peered out of the window. He’s still there.

I looked where she was indicating. It looks like he’s on the phone. He’ll probably go soon.

Mike stood outside staring at my flat for another ten minutes before he walked away. I’d been hoping he’d parked right outside so I could see what kind of car he was driving. Had it been him in the sports car who had followed me last night when I went out with Max?