‘I don’t think anyone saw us,’ said Adam from behind her.

She jumped. ‘Adam.’

‘We should talk quickly,’ he said.

She nodded. She was alarmed by the way he looked. He’d changed since she’d seen him outside his office in the rain. It wasn’t anything physical, nothing simple she could put her finger on, but there was something about his demeanour. He was nervous, tense.

‘When Becky and I were seeing each other, I worked in the R&D department of Senerix. You understand what that means, right?’

‘Yes, you were developing new products. Researching.’

‘I remember when she first got in touch. I couldn’t believe it. I’d liked her since university.’ He paused, embarrassed. ‘I’d keep all her texts, even the practical ones arranging times to meet, just to remind myself – me, geeky Adam – I was seeing Becky.’

Kate smiled.

‘I was so fucking stupid.’ He wrestled with something. ‘I used to call her on my work phone. Something went wrong with it, can’t remember what, now. IT took a look. I never got it back. Thought it odd at the time.’

Kate didn’t follow.

‘The messages from Becky were still on there,’ said Adam.

Oh. ‘Was there anything incriminating in them?’ asked Kate.

‘Her name was there. The fact she was a journalist. Then I got the sense I was being watched. Small things. I could’ve sworn a few of my emails were read before I opened them. The new phone they gave me – I believed it was bugged. I also believed they tracked my movements.’

He took a breath. ‘At the end of February last year, I was offered a new job. In a different department. Genomics. You know, genetic engineering? Seeds and so on. They painted it as a promotion of sorts but . . .’

‘You think they were deliberately moving you out of R&D?’

‘Yes.’

‘And do you think that’s because you knew something that they didn’t want you to tell anyone? To tell Becky?’

It took a moment before he could answer. ‘Yes.’

Kate swallowed. ‘Can you tell me what that thing is?’

‘Not here.’

‘But it’s something about the use of herbicides? Near people?’

He nodded.

‘A report? That you’ve read? About Crixus?’

He nodded again. ‘A memo. I stumbled across it at the beginning of last year. I was in the middle of a research assignment and it suddenly appeared in amongst the files I was working on. Naturally, I read it. It disturbed me. It was clear the company knew stuff about their products that they were keeping secret. I couldn’t forget about it so a couple of days later I raised it with my boss. He spun me some story about how it was still a work in progress, nothing conclusive – the company was changing formulas. I was reminded of how my work was confidential. When I got back to my desk, the document had disappeared from the server.’

She felt her breath quicken. Think, think.