Sally leant in towards him. ‘And Jack Tyler actually said that, did he, Mr Kelly? He said Beth Kinsella “got what she deserved”.’ It might mean nothing, but it was a strange turn of phrase for someone talking about a suicide.

‘If that’s what her name was, he did. I remember because Toby – the barman – said he thought it was a bit harsh. And I told him to ignore Jack because it was just the drink talking.’

Sally took a sip of her water and leant back. Her backside was beginning to feel numb on the hard plastic chair. She looked up at the clock. They’d only been going twenty minutes. She skimmed through her notes until she found the section she was looking for.

‘Right, I think that’s enough chit-chat, don’t you, Mr Kelly? Let’s cut to the chase. When was the last time you saw Jack Tyler alive?’

He stared down intently at the tabletop. ‘I just told you. I saw him in The Lamb the night before he died.’

‘So you did, Mr Kelly. But when was the last time you actually saw him?’

He glanced up at her, his gaze flitting round the room distractedly. ‘I told you, it was when Jack left the pub that night.’ He straightened himself up in his chair. ‘Look, I don’t understand what you’re getting at.’

Sally stood up, walked away from him and turned. Returning to the table she folded her arms, but this time stayed standing. Reaching into the wad of papers she withdrew the still of Damian Kelly looking up at the CCTV camera and tossed it down in front of him. ‘Recognise that?’

Damian Kelly drew the image towards him. His face drained of all colour. He didn’t say a word.

‘Well, to me that looks very much like a photo of you, Mr Kelly.’

‘I can explain.’

‘For your sake, Mr Kelly, I hope so. Because I’d very much like an explanation of why you claim to have last seen Jack Tyler when he left The Lamb that night – which other witnesses put at just before eleven – when we have you on camera in Snuff Street with Jack at’ – she picked up the photo and made a show of reading off the time from the bottom right-hand corner – ‘eleven forty-six. Three quarters of an hour later.’