‘He punched a guy who got up in his face! When he was out on the beer and a long time ago. He’s had it his whole career – some guy sees a local footballer out relaxing and they see a target. Especially Danny. That nickname he was given was just about the worst thing that coulda happened. There’s kudos in starting on The Beast. Blokes are idiots. They fight. Danny’s never been the sort to go out looking but he won’t back down. Not ever.’

‘Has he ever mentioned Sittingbourne before? In any context?’

‘No. Not to me.’

Sharon still had the note, and she fixed back on it to pick out more detail. ‘And it says her? No way he hurts a woman. No way. Did you find her? Do that, find who he’s talking about, speak to her and she’ll tell you what happened. But my Danny, he wouldn’t hurt a woman. I know him.’

‘We think we have found her, Sharon. The woman he mentions is Hannah Ribbons and she was shot dead in a flat in Sittingbourne.’

‘Hannah …’ Sharon looked up to meet the officer’s eyes. ‘Shot dead …’ Her words rushed out at the same time as her breath and she couldn’t get any more back in. It was like she had taken a punch to the gut. ‘No.’ All that was left was a squeak. She stood up, seeing if that would help with the breathing. She discarded the note, pushing it off her lap. She didn’t want to look at it, never mind have it touching her.

‘Danny took his life a short time after. The gun he used … Part of the enquiries will be to check if it was the same one as the gun that killed DC Ribbons, but I think it will be …’ His words hung like they had given a thickness to the air, enough to hold held her still. ‘Your husband had clear motive. We know he was angry, the police who did get to speak to him have all included in their notes that he was angry, that he was anti-police, that he—’