‘Michelle doesn’t want to press charges,’ she told Karin when she met her in reception, ‘she says Simon isn’t well.’

‘He’s had mental health problems in the past.’

‘It’s in nobody’s interest to keep him locked up, so we’re going to release him on bail. Simon has given us an address he says he’ll be staying at, a cousin’s house, but it’s important he resides there, Karin, and doesn’t try to leave town.’

‘I just don’t believe Simon could do it, blackmailing Michelle like that.’

‘Do you want to get a drink? A café’s just opened over the road, and I could murder a coffee.’

At the café, Sasha ordered a cappuccino, and an Earl Grey for Karin. She took pity on a sad-looking pastry imprisoned beneath a cloche and liberated it. She took the drinks outside to a table on the pavement.

Stirring her coffee, Sasha took the opportunity to have a long look at Karin. She was a handsome woman, tall and solid, but she didn’t make any particular effort with her appearance. She didn’t wear make-up and her hair was tied back in an unassuming ponytail. She was polite but sat with her eyes mostly lowered, absently pulling the ends of her hair, and the way she considered Sasha’s questions very carefully before answering revealed a coolness, almost a frost, at her core. Sasha sensed Karin expended a lot of energy keeping people at a safe distance.

When the pastry arrived, it glistened with sticky, calorific moisture and unless Ajay had a pair of binoculars trained on her from one of the station’s windows – which wasn’t entirely out of the realms of possibility – Sasha was determined to enjoy it away from his judgemental stare.

‘You don’t realize how much I’m looking forward to this.’ She licked sugar off a fingertip. ‘Tell me about Simon and Michelle.’

‘What about them?’

‘Do you know the nature of the blackmail?’

Karin nodded. ‘I can guess. The missing girl is her daughter.’

‘You know?’

‘Michelle wasn’t very discreet back in the day, we all knew.’

‘Simon doesn’t seem to me the kind of person who would blackmail her.’ Sasha broke off a piece of the pastry. ‘I’m sorry, do you want some of this?’

Karin shook her head. ‘I’m as shocked as you are.’

‘And then there’s the fact that Sammi is missing. That’s the kind of coincidence I really don’t like.’

‘Simon’s not one for keeping up with the news, he wouldn’t have known that the kidnapped girl is Sammi Manning.’

‘And he told us he’s not interested in money.’

‘When we were kids, it was obvious that his parents were loaded and he was destined for a very comfortable life.’

‘How well off?’ asked Sasha.