‘Shame, though.’

‘You’re not a cat person, are you?’ said Cooper. ‘I’m sure you can’t be.’

‘Why shouldn’t I be?’

‘Well . . . no, you’re just not, Diane.’

Fry swallowed some more wine. ‘Can’t stand ’em,’ she admitted. ‘Aren’t you going to get a new one?’

‘I’m going to look this afternoon.’

‘From a sanctuary?’

‘Yes.’

‘I thought it would be.’

Despite his best intentions, Cooper felt himself bridle at her tone. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Human or animal, it has to be a lost cause with you. You have to be able to ride in like a knight in shining armour and perform the noble rescue. It’s what you get off on. I’ve seen it often enough.’

Her accusation was so unfair that Cooper didn’t know what to say. How had she known that he would choose a sanctuary? He’d been thinking only the other day of Cats Protection, who had a centre somewhere near Ashbourne. But there was a sanctuary closer than that, just outside Edendale, and he’d decided to give them a try first. That wasn’t wrong, was it? Anyone would do the same, rather than leave all those animals abandoned in cages.

Fry put down her glass for a moment.

‘Can I ask you something?’

Cooper could feel the mood change, like a cold draught blowing through the bar. He almost looked round to see who’d left the door open.

‘Go ahead.’

‘Did you ever really understand why I came to Derbyshire from Birmingham?’

‘Well, there was your sister,’ said Cooper cautiously, remembering a particularly difficult period between them, and reluctant to open up any old wounds. ‘You thought she was living in this part of the world. Sheffield, right?’

‘Yes. And?’

Fry gazed at him challengingly, waiting for a reply. It made Cooper feel as though he was a suspect in an interview room, forced to fill that uncomfortable silence with some confession of his own.

‘Well, I heard you had a bad time in Birmingham,’ he said.

‘A bad time?’ Fry tossed back the rest of her wine and looked around for another. ‘What does that mean?’

‘There was the assault case.’

‘Oh, you heard about that? Who told you?’

Cooper shifted nervously. He recalled mentioning it himself, to Liz Petty.

‘I don’t know, Diane. It was a story that went around the office, not long after you arrived.’

‘I’d like to know who spread the story.’

‘I honestly don’t know. Are you saying it isn’t true?’

‘No, it’s quite true.’

‘I appreciate it’s something you might not want to talk about.’

Fry stared at her empty glass. For a moment, Cooper thought she was going to start talking to him about it, that she wanted to tell him about the rape that had blighted her career in the West Midlands and had followed her to Derbyshire, like a shadow.

But if the thought had crossed her mind, she decided against it. Cooper realized that she wasn’t going to say more. Though he’d barely touched his own drink, he fetched her another glass of wine, and after a while the conversation moved on.