‘Thank you, Darryl. Tell me what you do here.’

Darryl stepped back to open his arms out to the bar. ‘I work the bar?’

‘And I’m a detective, which means I never like to presume. How long have you been working here?’

‘Couple of years. It was a Saturday job at first, bit of cash while I did college in the week, you know, so I could work somewhere better.’ He suddenly grinned, like the death of his hopes and dreams was hilarious to him. ‘Life, hey, never quite works out like you want.’

‘Has a habit of doing that. Your coffee machine, does it work?’

‘Sure. You want one?’

‘Two maybe?’ He looked over at DS Rose. She nodded.

‘Black, extra sugar,’ she said.

‘Two of them.’ Joel said.

‘The bittersweet!’ The barman chuckled towards DS Rose. He had longer hair than seemed to be the fashion and it wasn’t like he looked after it either. It had a greasy sheen at the sides where it was pulled in tight to be wrapped up at the back. It was only just long enough to stay in place but a wisp had got free that he needed to constantly scoop behind his right ear. ‘You know why they call it that?’ He was still talking at DS Rose.

‘Seems pretty obvious,’ she said.

‘Bitter coffee and sweet sugar, right? But that’s not the only reason. People ask for that as a hangover cure. Works well, I’m told. You get the double kick of caffeine and sugar to get the blood pumping again, move the toxins around a bit. And a night out is sweet, right? So the next day is your bitter payoff.’

‘Very clever,’ DS Rose replied.

‘So, is that it? Did you have a few last night, detective?’

‘No,’ DS Rose said, dryly.

‘Do you get out for a drink much?’

‘No.’

‘Maybe that’s because no one asks you, or …?’

‘No.’

Joel managed to catch his laughter. The kid seemed to take his colleague’s abruptness on the chin and turned to the coffee machine to announce that he was ‘firing her up’. Joel spoke to his back.

‘There’s a man staying at the hotel, has been for a couple of weeks. I understand he’s been in here a few times?’ Joel held out a picture on his phone. He’d had the force control room send through the mugshot they had taken of Evans when he was arrested for his drink-drive charge.

‘Danny Evans. He’s been in here, yeah.’

‘You know him?’

‘I do. Even if he had never been in here I would know who he is. Most people do round here. Is he OK?’

‘Why would you ask that?’

Darryl turned back to reply. ‘You’re the cops! You don’t come here unless something bad’s happened.’

‘Usually we get asked if someone’s in trouble.’

‘Is he?’

‘Did he come in here a lot?’