‘OK,’ I say. What is he telling me this for? I’d pretty much forgotten the tests had even happened. ‘And was there anything conclusive?’

He looks down at a sheaf of papers on his desk. ‘Not exactly conclusive, no. But there was something surprising, and I wanted to talk to you about it before I go to Leo.’ He pauses. ‘Or to the police.’

My heart starts beating faster as in a flash I realize what it is he’s going to say. ‘Oh yes?’ I ask, my voice a little higher than it would usually be.

‘Yes. I don’t know the ins and outs of who greased whose palm, but Nico managed to acquire the results from the search of Rick’s room for me to send off with the DNA samples which were taken here to see if any kind of match could be found. I don’t think Nico felt the police were sufficiently bothered about the case.’

He pauses. ‘There were hairs found in Rick’s room which, when compared against the samples taken from the crew, don’t seem to belong to anyone on board. Now, of course there are some possibilities – that the room hasn’t been cleaned to Heracles’ scrupulously high standards and that they were left over from a previous guest, or someone who has left since the lay-up began – not that there have been many.’

‘OK,’ I prompt. My palms are sweating and I surreptitiously wipe them on my trousers.

‘But what’s even more surprising about it,’ he continues, ‘is that while the DNA is not a match for you, it is a match for someone who would appear to be a close relative of yours. A cousin, maybe. Or a sibling.’

He narrows his eyes at me. ‘Any idea how that might have happened?’ he asks.

‘No!’ I yelp. ‘It must be a mistake. It’s not possible. Lola is the only family I had left and now she’s dead.’ My voice catches in my throat at the mere idea of her lifeless body, even though I know she’s alive. ‘I don’t know where my dad is – he left when I was a child. Mum died a few years ago – she had cancer,’ I add pointlessly. ‘And that’s it. There’s no other close family anymore.’

What is he intimating? That he knows Lola was in that room? That he knows she’s alive? That he knows she killed Rick? But how could he know? Can he know? Shit, shit, shit.

Stuart sits back in his chair. ‘Lab mistakes and mix-ups are possible, but they don’t happen often. I will get it checked again, of course, but in the meantime if there’s anything you want to tell me, now is the time.’