‘Detective Becker, can I borrow you for a minute?’

Becker stands to leave and Hicks pauses the recording.

‘Do you want a drink or anything?’ he asks.

‘Please, and can I have something to eat too?’

He checks his watch and sees it’s midday.

‘Sure, I’ll be right back.’

He disappears out of the room and I see the young officer outside through the window in the door. My stomach cramps, but I’m not sure if it’s nerves or hunger. I didn’t finish the bacon roll from this morning.

When Becker returns, she looks resigned and her downcast expression troubles me.

Hicks comes back a minute later with a pre-packed cheese sandwich, which he places in front of me. I open it and take a bite. It’s good.

‘Eve, once you’ve eaten we’re going to go back out to the desk where you will be formally charged with murder.’

Suddenly I’m not hungry any more.

33

FRIDAY 12 JANUARY 2018

We got to Ian’s apartment in less than ten minutes, the crisp air making us walk faster. I thought about the film The Green Mile, that long corridor on the way to the electric chair. That’s how I felt, like I was walking towards my demise or maybe into an ambush. I tried my best to act naturally and, on the way, we talked about our shared interest in keeping fit. He told me he enjoyed rugby, playing every Saturday for a local team. It was why, he said, he was often covered in bruises. A perfect cover. Vanity made him wear a cap to avoid cauliflower ears. I vaguely remembered seeing men wearing them on television, but rugby was a sport I didn’t understand bar the ball having to cross the line to score. He suggested I come and watch. I’d rather watch paint dry, but I giggled and agreed all the same. I was being good, little compliant Eve and he liked it.

‘Are you seeing anyone at the moment?’ he asked.

‘No, not for quite a while,’ I admitted. ‘You?’

‘No one special,’ he said with a nonchalance that made me want to punch him in the face. I was sure he’d ‘seen’ more of me and his other victims than we’d ever have let him by choice.