‘Three years,’ he replied. As long as we’d been broken up, then. ‘I thought I might as well put my skills to good use. I’ve always been good with kids, I’m the sort of person they look up to.’ He beamed at me, and I could see him puff his chest out a little. God he was self-centred. And he honestly believed every word he said about himself.

‘I hadn’t taken any BSL exams before I started, but the head at the time could see how good a candidate I was. I did them as a formality, really.’

No mention of who it was that taught him to sign in the first place, then. I was surprised that someone as astute as Jane Villiers hadn’t seen through Mike’s arrogance, but maybe she’d hoped there was buried potential.

‘But enough about me,’ he continued. ‘What about you? Are you seeing anyone?’

The sudden switch of topic startled me. ‘I’d rather not talk about my personal life,’ I replied, not making eye contact with him.

‘So, you are seeing someone. Otherwise you would have just said no.’

I did my best to keep my face neutral. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of reacting to his comments.

‘Who is he?’

I ignored him and continued to look past him, but he moved so his face was right in front of mine.

‘I said, who is he? You know I’ll find out, so it’s easier if you tell me now.’

For once, I looked him in the eyes, and tried to stare him down. The last three years had strengthened me far more than I had realised, and I held his gaze for a full five seconds before I couldn’t stand it any more. Dropping my eyes, I shook my head, refusing to answer.

He made an exasperated noise, then turned to see Singh walking towards us.

‘Good to catch up with you,’ Mike said to me, flashing me his most charming smile, which he then turned on the DS. Before he reached us, Mike turned round and sauntered away, shooting a look back at me over his shoulder that made me shiver.

‘What was that all about?’ Singh asked in a low voice, and I wondered how much he’d heard.

I shook my head. ‘Nothing.’

‘It didn’t look like nothing.’

‘It’s fine. I can handle him.’

‘Paige, if there’s anything you want to talk about …’ Singh didn’t finish the sentence, but I knew what he was thinking.

I took a deep breath. ‘It’s fine,’ I repeated, remembering Mike’s apology. Was he genuinely trying to make amends, but lapsing back into old patterns of behaviour, or was it all a calculated plan to suck me back in? I wasn’t sure any more.

Nine hours before the murder