When Joe returned from the bar, they were still sitting in an uncomfortable silence.

‘Did you know that Mrs Lister had been murdered?’ Vera asked. She’d stopped being playful and her voice was serious and low.

‘Mrs Lister?’ Freya seemed genuinely confused.

‘The social worker that came to talk to you about your relationship with Michael.’

‘Oh her! I think I only knew her first name.’

‘Michael was on first-name terms with her, was he?’

Ashworth thought this was Vera back to her surefooted best, but the girl didn’t answer. The waiter brought their drinks, a basket of bread, a bowl of olives.

‘Had you heard that Jenny Lister was dead?’ Vera asked again.

‘No.’ It was impossible to tell from the flat response whether or not Freya was telling the truth. She reached out, took a piece of bread and spread it with butter, but left it uneaten on her plate.

‘That’s why we’re here, talking to you and Michael.’ It seemed now that Vera was the most patient woman in the world. ‘You both saw her soon before she died.’

‘So, we’re like witnesses.’ Freya’s face lit up, the last reaction Ashworth would have expected. But people often had a voyeur’s excitement when they were close to a violent death, as if it conferred a degree of celebrity on them. He hoped she had friends she could phone or text about her part in this drama. A mam she could call on when she went into labour. He hated to think of her alone in the flat with that man.

‘Exactly,’ Vera said. ‘You’re witnesses. So you don’t mind answering a few questions?’

‘Of course not. I thought you were just here to have a go at me about Michael. Because he’s a bit older than I am.’

Vera shot a look at Ashworth, but let that go. ‘How often did you meet Jenny Lister?’

‘Only once,’ the girl said. ‘Though Michael had seen her before. He’d gone out with that terrible woman who killed her son, and social services had been involved then.’

‘He told you about that?’

‘Of course he did,’ Freya said. ‘Michael and I don’t have any secrets. It sounded dreadful. Michael really loved the kid. He was devastated about what had happened. Then there were all the rumours, people thinking he was involved in some way.’

‘Bad for business.’

Ashworth thought Vera had gone too far, but Freya took the comment at face value. ‘Yeah, really bad! His regulars stuck by him of course, but he’s only just starting to pick up new clients.’

‘It didn’t put you off? The fact that he was linked to the Elias Jones case.’

‘No! If you really love someone, you stand by them, don’t you?’ She looked at them, demanding their agreement, but neither could quite meet her eye.