‘What the fuck for, though?’ He picked up a broken ashtray from the floor and gazed down at it. ‘Christ, Clara, what if you’d been in? There’s no way you’re staying here any more.’ His worried eyes met hers. ‘Get some stuff and come to mine.’

She remembered then the photographs she’d found and went to fetch them. ‘Look at these,’ she said, watching him closely as he slid the pictures from the envelope and stared down at the unknown woman’s face.

‘Who’s this?’ he asked.

She eyed him suspiciously. ‘You don’t know? Really?’

‘No. Never seen her before. Why?’

‘At a rough guess I’d say it’s someone else Luke was shagging behind my back,’ she said bitterly. ‘I found them hidden in the office.’

‘No way, Clara,’ Mac said with complete certainty. ‘He would have told me, I know he would. He said Sadie was the only one.’

‘Yeah, well, Luke’s a liar, isn’t he?’ she said quietly. ‘He’s lied to me and he’s probably been lying to you, too.’ She took the photos from him and angrily stuffed them back into the envelope. ‘He probably wanted to sneak a look at them whenever I was out. I mean, for fuck’s sake!’ She gave a short, exasperated laugh. ‘It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? What else am I going to find? A secret wife tucked away somewhere? A couple of kids?’

They fell silent for a while, until, looking around himself Mac said uneasily, ‘Why don’t we get out of here? This place is giving me the creeps.’

It was while she was in the bedroom shoving clothes into a bag that her mobile rang. ‘This is DC Mansfield,’ the officer said when Clara picked up. ‘Can you come to the station? As you know, the press conference is this afternoon. It would be very helpful if you could say a few words.’

Her heart sank. ‘I really don’t know if—’

‘I would urge you to, Clara,’ she said. ‘This kind of appeal has more impact if it has the involvement of family and loved ones.’

‘But … wouldn’t his mum and dad be more—’

‘Unfortunately they’ve declined. Understandably, they don’t feel up to it right now.’

‘Yes. I see …’ she thought about Rose and Oliver, of the agony they were going through, and then she thought of the abandoned van, the sickeningly bloodstained seat. ‘When do you need me?’ she asked, glancing at Mac.

They were on their way to the police station when Clara asked casually, ‘What do you think of Tom, Mac?’

He looked at her in surprise. ‘Tom? Why?’

She shrugged. ‘No reason. He came over earlier, that’s all. Said he was in town meeting clients and thought he’d see how I was. I mean, you’ve known him a long time, what’s your take on him?’