‘No. You have my word that you’ll come to no harm.’

Unbelievable.

‘I’m sorry I’ve been … so much more trouble than a dead houseplant.’ I hear what sounds like a stifled sob.

‘Isobel, we’re not friends,’ I say loudly and clearly. ‘Please tell me you know that.’

‘Will you come tomorrow?’

‘I don’t know. I’m going to ring the police and ask their advice.’

‘Remind them that I won’t tell them what I know without you there. I mean it, Kim. There’s no balance without you.’

‘Balance?’

‘Apart from me and Liam, everyone else at the meeting is going to be police. That’s not right. With you and your brother there, it’ll be closer.’

‘Closer to what, Isobel?’ I’m guessing she means a fifty-fifty split between detectives and civilians. Why does she care? I’d ask, but it would mean speaking to her for longer, and I can’t bear to.

‘Goodbye, Isobel. Don’t ring me again.’

‘Tomorrow morning, nine o’clock. Please, Kim. Can I at least give you the details of the venue so that you can think about it?’

Venue? The word makes it sound as if she’s planning a wedding. Surely she’ll be interviewed at the police station in Spilling or at her house.

Before I can answer, she tells me the name and address.

‘What?’ I can’t believe what I’ve just heard. At the same time, given that she knows I’m going to be ringing the police in the very near future, I don’t think she’s lying.

What the hell’s going on here?

Chapter 23

23

21/1/2015

‘This is not how police business is conducted,’ said Proust. ‘It’s not how serious murder investigations are conducted. This isn’t a parlour game!’

‘Sir, we all know that,’ said Sam. ‘But sometimes, to get results, isn’t it wiser to be flexible?’

‘You call it flexible, Sergeant; I call it dancing to the tune of a murderer.’ The glare dial inside the Snowman’s cubicle had been fixed at its maximum setting.

‘We’ve already got the Wing beneath Waterhouse’s wind and Kerensa Moore on their way to us – and you’re proposing to add Kim Tribbeck and Drew Hopwood to the party?’

‘Neil Dunning as well,’ said Sellers. ‘Sorry, sir. If Wing’s coming, Dunning’s got a right to be there too.’

‘They can and should all be there,’ said Gibbs. ‘Billy’s a big deal. I don’t see why we’re so keen to take sole responsibility for it.’

‘We don’t yet know that Isobel Sturridge is Billy, sir,’ said Sam almost inaudibly.