I freeze. Look up suddenly from my hands. Rata cocks the corner of his mouth. Cain visiting that house? A swelling siren of panic. I try to straighten my face out but they’ve seen it.

‘Wait,’ he says, leaning a little closer. ‘You didn’t know.’

‘Didn’t know what?’

A small laugh. My insides plummet. Rata ribs the other cop with his elbow. ‘Hear that, Constable? She didn’t even know he had been there.’

The constable speaks now. ‘Daniel turns up at your house with a fistful of lead in his guts. He stayed at that house you were visiting tonight, and you didn’t know your husband had been there.’ The image almost makes me gag. The tone has changed. Rata speaks again now, the smile leaving his face. ‘Help us understand, Lina. None of this makes sense.’

I just shake my head.

‘If Cain was there and you don’t know why, I’d be very careful if I were you.’

I can’t help but take the bait. ‘What do you mean?’

‘It sounds like your husband has a secret, Lina. And you have a secret. Things like this tend not to end well. So why don’t you help us out? What we are investigating is bigger than you both.’

Bigger than us both. My mind is whirling. Cain must know something, why else was he there? Or could this be some trick the police are playing on me?

‘Cameras were installed at that house. Now they’ve been removed. Who do you think might have removed them?’

‘Daniel Moore?’ I say.

‘Some would say he’s the obvious culprit. But people can make a lot of money very quickly doing this sort of thing. Two places in less than one week and they’re both linked to you, Lina.’

‘I don’t know what to say, I had nothing to do with it.’

Rata shrugs now, as if to say, prove it. Then he speaks, ‘We’ve had the place under surveillance. I was not expecting you or your husband to show up. I missed him but when they said you were at the house, well that was worth getting out of bed for.’

‘Did you bring him here?’

‘No,’ he says.

‘Why not?’

‘That doesn’t matter.’

‘I went there to check for cameras. I saw on our listing that someone had stayed there as well as our place. I went there because I’m still shaken up and scared and I want answers and I thought there was a second man that night. That’s all.’

Rata pokes out his bottom lip as if considering my theory that someone else was involved. ‘If you’re telling the truth about this, I’d be very careful if I were you. But I’m not sure if I really believe what you’re saying. I think there’s more to it.’

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