Jo said, ‘You know you won’t get any arguments from me on that score. I’m fine going along with this, Clare, but don’t you think it’s about time you tell David?’

‘What for? You told me yourself what he was like when he found out about Marshall turning up on-site shouting the odds. And he went nuts at me on the phone.’

Jo said, ‘It’s not the same.’

‘As far as I can see it’s exactly the same.’

Jo’s frustration at her friend’s obstinacy was obvious. ‘Why don’t you quit pretending and open your eyes? Everyone else can see it. Why can’t you? It’s because it was you.’

Clare could feel herself blushing. She dismissed the suggestion with a flick of her hand. ‘Don’t be so ridiculous, Jo. When David phoned me about the whole Marshall thing he was angry because the team had been threatened. His team. I understand that he feels a sense of responsibility towards them. But going round threatening people isn’t helping anyone, is it?’

Jo raised both hands in the air. ‘OK, OK. If that’s the way you want to deal with it, fine.’

In all the time she’d known her this was the closest Clare had ever come to seeing Jo angry. At least with her. And she wasn’t enjoying the experience.

She reached out and laid her hand on Jo’s shoulder. ‘Hey, I don’t want to fall out over this. You are OK with us carrying on digging, aren’t you?’

Jo nodded, but Clare could feel the tension in every bone of Jo’s body.

Clare asked, ‘And we’re still OK, aren’t we?’

Jo placed her hand on Clare’s and smiled. ‘Sure, we’re OK. If we’re gonna go down, we’re gonna go down together.’

Clare said, ‘Right, let’s get to work, then.’ She headed towards the doorway. ‘I’m going to see if I can get Neil to do something about these windows.’

Jo said, ‘You’re out of luck there.’

Clare turned to face her. ‘Why?’

‘Neil hasn’t turned up for work this morning.’

Clare asked, ‘Has he phoned?’

Jo shook her head. ‘Nope. I tried phoning, but his phone just went to voicemail.’

Clare said, ‘That’s not like him. He’s normally on-site before we are.’

Jo said, ‘When I spoke to Val on Saturday night she said he’d had to wait for hours with her at A & E. Maybe he’s just taking the time back that he’s owed.’