His deadpan sense of humour. He wasn’t fucking deadpanning, he just didn’t have a sense of humour. He wasn’t dry. He was deranged. And that meant . . . he didn’t actually find my jokes funny. And he didn’t have respect for women – all his refreshing lack of issue with reporting to a woman was just another part of his condition. I couldn’t believe . . . I couldn’t believe I let my mind go places it shouldn’t have. How could I have been so blind? How could I have missed the signs? Was the flirting another manipulation? To confuse me with this pretence of attraction? God, how could I be so easily played? It was all an act. All of it.

Jake put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Don’t even think of blaming yourself. This is all on him. And we’re going to make him pay. I’m going to make him pay.’ From the minute Jake had found out about Robin, he had been on the edge of losing it. He just didn’t know where to direct the rage, the pain. But now he did. Now he had a target. Someone to blame. And no one was going to hold him back.

Hattie heard the steel in Jake’s voice and looked up sharply. He addressed the room. ‘Remember the greater good here is ending the Tenebris Network. If Frederick is the Snake he’s the best link we have. He will have a working access login to the website. He will have received payment from them. They would’ve set up a way of exchanging information. These are all trails we can follow. He’s our only chance of finding the people running Tenebris and getting it permanently shut down and have Eight back up and running.

‘G – you and Pixie need to go through all the intel we have on Frederick. We re-look at everything we’ve learned over the last few days. The wife’s art gallery – we need accounts, all painting records. Everything. The Committee wants proof. We find the money, we have the confirmation we need to take Frederick down.’

Hattie turned to Jake and me. ‘Go search his house. It’s unlikely there’ll be anything there but it’s worth a try.’

Would it be empty now? I checked my watch. Shit. I was meant to be picking Gigi up. I’d never make it on time.

‘Jake, let’s go. I need to get Gigi on the way and drop her with my mother-in-law. We can then search Frederick’s house.’

I rang the nursery as we approached the Platform’s car park. ‘I’m so sorry, I’ve been stuck at work. I’ll be there fifteen minutes late.’ Yvonne was silent. ‘It won’t happen again.’ She still remained silent. ‘Listen, I was going to volunteer to host the next parent coffee morning.’