‘As far as I know. Why wouldn’t she be?’

‘No reason,’ Judith said quickly, before she implicated herself any further. ‘But someone else has been murdered?’

‘Liz Curtis,’ Tanika said. ‘The woman you saw on Mr Dunwoody’s property.’

‘Liz is dead?’ Judith said, horrified.

‘We need someone to formally identify the body. And I was wondering if you could do it. After all, you’ve recently seen her. Twice, in fact.’

Judith had the good grace to look awkward.

‘It’s three,’ she said under her breath.

‘What’s that?’

‘I met Liz a third time.’

‘When?’ she said.

‘Well, you remember when you told me I absolutely shouldn’t talk to her?’

‘Of course. You promised.’

‘Well, the only problem was, I was at the rowing centre when you told me that. So I couldn’t very well not talk to her, seeing as I was already there.’

‘You talked to Liz Curtis after I told you not to?’ Tanika said, exasperated.

‘Which is fortunate for you, since she’s now dead. I’m a witness. I can tell you all about what she was like.’

‘She’s a dog killer,’ Suzie chipped in.

‘Can I ask you what you’re even doing here?’ Tanika said to Suzie.

‘She’s my friend,’ Judith said.

‘Look,’ Tanika said, trying to take control of the situation. ‘I need you to come with me, Judith. And you’d better tell me about your third meeting with Liz on the way.’

‘What about me?’ Suzie asked.

‘What about you?’

‘I met Liz Curtis as well. Can I come?’

‘No.’

‘Are you sure—’

‘I only need one of you to identify the body.’

Suzie rocked back on her heels a bit.

‘Well, can’t say fairer than that,’ she conceded.

As Tanika drove Judith to the rowing centre, Judith recapped her and Suzie’s encounter with Liz. In particular, she explained how Liz had denied knowing both Stefan and Iqbal, even though her husband Danny later told them that Liz had known both men. Throughout the story, Tanika kept her eyes on the road and her jaw clenched.

As they pulled up at the rowing centre, Tanika parked her car and crunched the handbrake on.

Judith finally realised how cross Tanika was.

‘I should have told you sooner, shouldn’t I?’

‘You shouldn’t have spoken to her at all!’ Tanika all but shouted. ‘There’s someone out there who’s killed three people. And your life is at risk every time you get involved.’

Judith felt abashed, so she reached into her handbag, pulled out her tin of travel sweets and popped the lid.

‘Travel sweet?’ she asked by way of a peace offering.

‘No thank you,’ Tanika said in a tone that told Judith that she wasn’t going to be let off the hook that easily.