‘I’d like to know about Beth,’ Harri tried.

‘Did you ever meet her?’ Ben asked.

He didn’t seem all there. Was he on drugs?

‘No. I’d like to ask you some questions about how Beth and David Asha died.’

Ben’s eyes glazed over and his gaze drifted past her to the garden and valley beyond. ‘But when the high gems shimmer and the shutters fall, I still feel those worlds tenderly traced.’

He doesn’t seem well, Harri thought, but she immediately checked herself. Don’t get confused. You don’t owe this man your compassion.

They’d bonded over a shared love of poetry, but that was then. The lines sounded out of place, detached from the world, perhaps reflecting his current state of mind.

‘Were you listening?’ he asked suddenly, as though a slipped cog had suddenly re-engaged with reality. ‘It’s from a poem I wrote for someone dear to me.’

‘Beth?’

Ben didn’t answer and his attention drifted again. This did not seem like a person who should be in charge of a child.

‘Is there anyone else here?’ she asked.

‘No. Just Elliot. And we’re busy,’ he said. ‘We don’t have time for questions.’

His words were hard, but his expression was almost pitying as he shut the door on her.

As she walked away from one of the strangest encounters of her life, Harri looked back and saw the boy, Elliot, watching her from the upstairs window.

Maybe it was her imagination, but he seemed to be judging her.

Chapter 5

Harri had first met Ben Elmys a little over a year ago, shortly after she’d moved to Staffordshire.

Everything had seemed so much lighter. She’d left the stress and danger of London for a slower pace of life and had been pleasantly surprised to be partnered with someone as sparky as Sabih Khan. They’d hit it off immediately, like a younger brother and older sister reunited after years apart. They’d never met before, but that’s how it had felt – easy and familiar. They’d slipped into a natural rhythm of banter and honesty, and when Sabih had found out she’d registered for eHarmony, he’d mocked her relentlessly, but she didn’t care. She was determined to make the most of the move to the country, and at thirty-one, she was resolved to find someone to share her life with. Once he realized how much it meant to her, Sabih stopped teasing about finding love in the algorithm.

‘So, today’s the big day,’ he said as she pulled up outside his house at the end of their shift.

The algorithm had given her one man she was interested in. A guy called Benjamin Elmys, and she’d made the mistake of giving Sabih a running commentary of their email exchanges.

‘All ribbing aside, I hope it goes well for you,’ Sabih said as he climbed out of the car. He’d turned and leaned in through the open door. ‘Just remember to take your baton in case he’s a weirdo. I’m sure he won’t be, but don’t be afraid to club him if you’re not sure.’