‘Must have been grim,’ he said as they entered the hospital canteen. ‘To see someone actually jump like that. And he said, “They’re going to think I murdered her”?’

Harri nodded.

‘What a thing to say,’ Sabih remarked.

Harri scanned the large second-storey room. There was a long buffet of congealing food, fridges full of fizzy drinks, a few worried-looking couples talking quietly over cups of tea, a man with a young girl whose right arm was in a cast, and, over at a table by the run of windows, a lone doctor in blue scrubs. Harri had met Kelly Jackson once before, but Sabih knew her better, and she wanted her former partner’s warrant card and easy charm in case Kelly had read the newspapers and wasn’t inclined to talk to a disgraced former police officer.

Kelly saw them and waved. She was blonde and had a figure that used to torment Sabih. Harri had told him she wasn’t interested in his horny musings about how hot Kelly was, and he hadn’t broached the subject again, but she saw from his expression that his desire hadn’t waned. He was eyeing Kelly like a lion slavering over a baby antelope. Harri shook her head, but if Kelly knew what was on Sabih’s mind, she gave no hint of it.

‘Detectives,’ she said, standing to shake their hands. She had a broad Potteries accent and a folksy smile.

‘I’m not—’ Harri began.

‘It’s good to see you, Kel,’ Sabih interrupted. Perhaps he wasn’t all that drunk. Kelly wasn’t aware Harri had left the force, and Sabih’s knowing look suggested he saw little point in enlightening her. ‘Thanks for squeezing us in.’

‘My shift just ended,’ she replied as they sat. ‘Tea? Coffee?’

‘No thanks,’ Harri replied, and Sabih shook his head.

‘What can I do for you?’

‘We’re investigating the death of Elizabeth Asha,’ Harri said. ‘Sab says you treated her.’

‘Yes. Poor woman. I felt sorry for the whole family. It was so sad,’ Kelly replied.

‘And her body is missing?’ Harri went on. She felt Sabih shift in his seat and glanced at him to see a momentary frown.

Kelly sighed. ‘We just don’t know what happened.’

‘When did her body go missing?’ Harri asked.

‘The night she died.’

‘Was her husband here?’

‘Yes. He and Ben Elmys, their friend, were in the room when Beth died. I was with them. Her body disappeared after we left, before the orderlies came to remove it.’

‘When was this?’ Harri asked.

‘Four or five months ago,’ Kelly replied. ‘I think she died in April.’

Some months after their last date. He’d said their break-up was linked to his friend’s illness. Had Beth’s condition deteriorated while Harri and Ben had been seeing each other? Maybe that was why he’d broken things off? Perhaps he’d been knocked by her illness? But why didn’t he tell Harri?

‘You said the body disappeared after you, Ben, and David left. Were they with you the whole time?’ Sabih asked.