Dani decided to push on. She wanted to know what they were hiding, but she would do it as softly as she could.

Barbara scoffed. Matthew didn’t react.

‘What on earth are you trying to suggest?’ Barbara asked.

‘Most people are killed by someone they know,’ Easton said, and Dani was glad he had taken the baton. ‘We don’t yet have any suspects for Paul’s murder but chances are it was someone he knew. We’re just trying to find out about your son, his habits, his friends, so we can find leads to follow. Had he made friends with anyone you disapproved of? People who were mixed up with—’

‘Just stop right there!’ Barbara shouted, putting her hand up. ‘This is my son you’re talking about. He was a good boy.’

‘Did you know he dealt drugs?’ Easton asked. ‘Cocaine. Ecstasy. Perhaps others.’

Barbara’s cheeks flushed. Dani could tell Matthew was clenching his teeth.

‘Yes. We did know,’ Matthew said. His wife shot him a look but it was too late to stop him talking. ‘It goes back a long way. A couple of months before his injury, Paul was suspended by the club for two weeks. For possession of cocaine.’

‘He was just a kid then,’ Barbara said in her son’s defence.

‘But after the accident he started taking it. He thought it was helping him recover. In mind, at least.’

‘Do you know where he got it from?’ Easton asked.

‘No. He never told me.’

‘But you know he started dealing too?’ Dani said.

Matthew shook his head, in shame, perhaps? ‘He’s my son. It’s my job to know. He had more money than he had any right to have, given his low-level jobs. It had to be coming from somewhere.’

‘Did you ever find out where?’

‘No. And that’s the truth. I’ve no reason to lie about that.’

Dani nodded. She believed him.

Over the next few minutes the conversation trailed off. Dani tried asking the same questions in different ways, hoping for a different, and more useful answer, but the Reeves remained steadfast in not giving away anything more about their son’s criminality. They had no reason to hold back, Dani ultimately decided, figuring it was time to move on. They also said they had never heard of Grace Agnew or Natalya.

‘Just one more thing before we leave you,’ Dani said. ‘Have you ever heard of Jimmy Colton?’

‘Jimmy Colton?’ Matthew said, his face screwed in confusion. ‘Why?’

‘We believe he may be an acquaintance of your son’s.’

‘You think he might be the one who did this?’

‘We don’t know yet. Have you heard that name?’

‘No,’ Matthew Reeve said, before looking to his wife for confirmation. She shook her head. Their reaction to the name seemed genuine enough.

Dani checked her watch. ‘I think we should probably get out of your hair. Unless there’s anything else?’