‘Information sharing. You know, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.’ She delivered the line with so much saccharin that Priest found himself cringing. He realised he needed to end this. Jessica would be here soon – he had better things to do.

‘I’m really not sure.’

She huffed, feigning disappointment. ‘That’s too bad. I guess you’ll just have to work out who the boy in the picture is, all on your own.’

Priest waited but she didn’t expand. She just kept leaning over his kitchen table looking at him with her large, brown eyes and running her fingers with her hair. In any other situation, at any other time, in any other place, Priest felt his self-control might not have been so robust. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, the prospect of reaching out and touching the soft white skin of her bare arms was tantalising. Would it really matter if I did?

‘You know who it is?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘How?’

‘I’ve been investigating the Elias Foundation for years – I told you. There’s no secret they can hide from me.’

‘Alexia and Dominique Elias are childless,’ Priest pointed out.

She smiled again. She had perfect teeth, he noticed. ‘Nothing escapes you, does it?’

‘Who is it?’

She laughed, but didn’t move. Just watched him, like a predator, as Priest leant back against the side, arms folded.

‘As if I’m going to tell you that easily,’ she whispered.

‘Then how does this game work?’ Priest spoke through gritted teeth. A man was dead, and she was teasing him.

‘It’s simple,’ she said. ‘I’ve written the name down on a piece of paper and I’ve put it in one of my hands. You’ve got to guess which one.’

She offered her clenched hands to him across the island, just out of reach. Priest studied them but he was beginning to feel angry. He didn’t like being toyed with, and Fox clearly couldn’t give a damn about Simeon. He should end this. But if I can guess right . . .

‘Did I mention that you have to do this by touch alone?’ she breathed.

Priest checked the clock on the oven – half an hour until Jessica arrived. Fox had leant further across the kitchen island with her fists outstretched and her head raised, lips apart, eyes wide. He couldn’t reach her from here. What she wanted was obvious.

Priest didn’t think about it any further. He knew if he did he would come to his senses. He walked around the back of the island. She watched him part of the way but didn’t turn around when he was out of sight. Instead she straightened her neck in a very feline way, and waited.