Seems like I don’t have a choice. He prints off an invoice and hands it over as I’m getting Joel’s card out. The old man’s cat has started a high keening sound; it’s almost alien. I slip the card across the surface and glance at the bill. Errr … what the fuck?

‘I don’t think this is mine,’ I tell him as he picks the card up and is about to slip it into the machine. ‘It seems quite expensive …’

He takes the paper back and checks something on the computer. Glances at the paper again. Nods.

‘No, this is the one,’ he says, giving it back to me and positioning the card machine so I can enter the pin. ‘Seems a lot, but your insurance will cover it. You’ll need to get a claim form, fill it out and send the invoice in. Just pop your pin in there.’

My insurance. Damn. I should probably call Joel. Then again, I’ve no other immediate way of paying for it, and I’m pretty sure they’re not going to let me take Kush home until it’s been settled in full. The light’s now humming a little louder. I take a deep breath and type in the four digits. I’ll give Joel a call later.

Back at the station, I find Vermeer in the incident room and tell her about my conversation with Joel, how it could frame the attack on my houseboat in an entirely different light. She listens intently. When I’ve finished she just sits there. A biro in her hand goes tap-tap-tap on the table.

‘So what do you think?’ I finally ask when it’s clear she’s not going to offer anything.

‘I think all that stuff you’re smoking is making you paranoid,’ she says when I’ve finished.

‘Easy for you to say. No one’s burned down your place.’

The biro falls silent.

‘That’s exactly the point. We’re both doing this investigation together, so what’s so special about you?’

Well, when she puts it like that …

‘Change of topic. Huisman doesn’t matter any more but –’ She tosses over a sheet of paper. ‘– out of interest, look who’s a member of the rehab’s parent organization.’

I look. Ex Judge Muller. I wonder if he found ‘religion’ after his daughter’s death, or he’d already been part of what some might call a cult.

‘You think he was the one who blocked the warrant?’

‘But why would he? Doesn’t make sense.’

She’s right. But the more we discover the less any of it seems to be making sense.

‘Maybe not.’