‘…he wasn’t diagnosed with it or anything. He wasn’t on Valium or Prozac or any of that nonsense—’

Dani tried her best not to react, though she was sure Matthew was insinuating that she was on all that nonsense. Which she was, but that wasn’t the point.

‘—but he was definitely different. Different to the boy we knew.’

‘You took him on at your company?’ Easton asked.

‘He needed a job. He was still living at home through all this but we wanted…’

Matthew trailed off again, unable to say what he’d intended. Barbara was kind enough to finish her husband’s sentence.

‘What my husband is trying to say is that he wanted our son out of the house. He thought Paul was a useless sponge. He gave him a job just so Paul would have enough money for us to get rid of him for good without us worrying about him living out on the streets somewhere like a bum.’

Barbara glared at her husband but he just looked straight ahead at Dani. He remained impassive but the slight twitches in his facial muscles suggested he wasn’t far from breaking down. Dani thought he was probably now severely regretting the many run-ins he’d had with his son. Whatever his emotion, he held it in.

‘You say Paul had changed,’ Dani said. ‘How did he take Anthony’s death? You said, Mrs Reeve, that Anthony died nearly four years ago. Wasn’t that about the same time Paul stopped playing football too?’

‘Paul was as devastated by Ant’s death as we both still are,’ Matthew said. ‘But if you’re trying to suggest he got his leg broken in three places on the football field, jeopardizing his whole career, just because of Ant… I mean…’

‘Sorry, I’m not suggesting anything like that,’ Dani said, holding her hands up. ‘I just want to understand what could have been going on in Paul’s mind. How he changed and why.’

‘He was only a kid when he had the accident. Not quite nineteen. It took months and months to get him back on a pitch but a good while more for him to realise he would never make it. Was it the injury or just his head that changed? Who knows. Either way he was lost in life. He had enough reasons to be.’

By now Matthew Reeve was answering almost in monotone. Barbara, meanwhile, was simmering. She looked furious but was holding her tongue. Dani hadn’t wanted to upset them, but they clearly were very troubled. Could this be because she was close to something that the Reeves wanted to keep tight to their chests?

Should she push on or call it a day?

‘Mr and Mrs Reeve, do you know of any reason why someone would want to hurt Paul?’