‘Something I don’t get,’ says Gibbs. ‘Isobel, you’re saying you were planning to kill Kim before you knew your brother was involved with her?’

‘Yes. She was going to be the first. I knew she was famous, which seemed somehow … I don’t know. Auspicious, I suppose.’ Isobel smiles. ‘People talk about going out with a bang … I wanted to go in with a bang, start with someone who was a public figure. That way I knew I’d get people talking straight away, before there were more victims or a pattern or anything. I set about doing some research and I became a bit obsessed, I suppose. That never happened with any of the others – only Kim. I bought all her “Live at the Blah-Blah” DVDs, and a box set of The Village Parallel. I watched them all endlessly, telling myself it was useful preparation, but that was an excuse. You don’t need to know someone’s work by heart in order to shoot them dead. I … I guess I grew to like Kim. I liked her voice and her way of looking at the world. That’s why I was relieved when I realised I’d have to put off killing her till last.’

You and me both, Billy.

‘Liam watched Kim’s DVDs with me because he was there in the room. We ate in front of them. I talked about Kim all the time – he could hardly avoid her. He … I suppose he came to share my interest in her and … well, I had no idea he’d done anything about it until, as I say, I found them together in Canterbury. And Kim, please believe me – I did change my mind about you. I changed the number to five – that would be fine too, I decided. Just as good as six, though it’d be two pairs and an odd one, but I didn’t care about that. When we spoke outside the hospital, I knew I’d never be able to kill you. I liked you too much – already, from the DVDs, and then we got on so well … and I’d read up on you, too, so I knew you’d never really had a proper mother—’

‘Yes, I did. I had a mother, a brilliant mother. I just never got to meet her.’

Drew pointedly looks away.

‘I lost my mother in 2013,’ says Isobel. ‘I know your pain inside out.’

‘No,’ I say. My pain is mine.

‘Knowing you’d been through that, I couldn’t inflict any more pain on you. I just couldn’t.’