I shake my head. ‘Nothing I can reveal at the moment, I’m afraid.’

She wipes her hands with the tea towel, as if it gives her something to do. ‘You never think it’s going to come to this, do you?’

I raise my eyebrows questioningly. ‘Meaning?’

‘Well, we always used to hear raised voices through the wall,’ she says. ‘Her screams would send shivers down my spine.’

My stomach lurches.

‘Though my husband and I used to say that if it had happened to us, we’d probably be at each other’s throats as well.’ Her eyes glaze over. ‘I mean, how do you get over something like that?’

My phone shrills in my hand, demanding my attention. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say, seeing that it’s Detective Robson. ‘I need to take this.’

‘Mrs Chandler?’ she barks.

‘Yes,’ I say wearily.

‘I’ve just come from the Royal Garden hotel.’

My legs wobble beneath me as I imagine her scouring the CCTV footage, desperately searching for the indisputable proof that I was there, drinking with Jacob, flirting with him; luring an innocent man to his death.

‘I spoke to Andy Kerridge, the General Manager there,’ she goes on.

I stay silent, not trusting myself to speak.

‘He says that you were at the hotel.’

My head feels as if it’s about to explode as I try to second-guess what she knows and what she doesn’t. Is there any point in me continuing with this charade, if she’s just biding her time, ready to pounce with the ace up her sleeve?

What if I hadn’t wiped all the incriminating scenes from the CCTV? Had I been clever enough to leave no trace of Leon and me whatsoever? Not even a lingering suggestion in the corner of a frame; perhaps the back of my head, or a flash of his booted foot. Even if I had, there’s every chance that Andy would have it all backed up onto a hard drive. His anger, confusion, and ultimately disappointment in what I’d done when he’d trusted me leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

‘He says you asked to see the CCTV from the night of June twenty-first – the night Michael Talbot went missing.’

‘Yes,’ I squeak, terrified that I might give something away that Andy hasn’t.

‘So why did you think he was going to be there?’

‘I didn’t, but it’s a place I advise my clients to go to if they ever feel in danger. So I made the assumption that he might have done.’

She’s giving nothing away. No sign of what she saw on the CCTV and no clue as to what Andy has told her.

‘Mr Talbot took a call that evening that lasted forty-five seconds.’