Then she came to her senses, and stepped away.

This man isn’t what he seems, she told herself.

The lift stopped and the doors slid open.

‘Don’t ever come near me again,’ Harri said as she pushed past him.

She was worried he’d try to stop her, but he just stood aside and watched her go.

She took out her phone and dialled Sabih. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the lift doors close. Sabih didn’t answer, but she didn’t need him. A moment later, she was inside her flat, her locks secure, her bolts drawn, a chair wedged against the front door.

She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of beer. As she sat on the arm of the sofa, watching her front door, she wondered how long it would be before she stopped shaking and felt sufficiently calm to sleep.

Extract from the court report of R v. Elmys

ROGER SUMPTION QC for the Crown Prosecution Service

And you went to see Detective Sergeant Khan the day after Mr Elmys came to your home. Is that correct?

HARRIET KEALTY

Yes.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

Please tell us what happened.

HARRIET KEALTY

He, Sabih, DS Khan, didn’t answer my call and I wanted to tell him about Mr Elmys coming to my home. I wish I’d never gone now. I had no idea what would happen.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

I understand, but you did go, and you spoke to DS Khan, didn’t you?

HARRIET KEALTY

Yes, I went to Hanley Police Station. I don’t have many friends left on the force, but there are still a couple of people who will do me a favour. One of them let me through security and I met DS Khan coming out of a meeting. I told him about Mr Elmys’s unwelcome visit and asked him to log an official complaint in case anything else happened.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

And that complaint is exhibit 3J?

HARRIET KEALTY

Yes. After we’d done the paperwork, DS Khan told me the hospital footage had come in and asked if I wanted to see it.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

This is the footage from the closed-circuit television camera outside Elizabeth Asha’s hospital room the night she died? Exhibit 4D?

HARRIET KEALTY

Yes.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

And what did it show?

HARRIET KEALTY

It showed David Asha and Ben Elmys standing in the corridor outside Mrs Asha’s room. Mr Asha looked anguished. Mr Elmys seemed distracted. They were whispering to each other. Mr Elmys looked directly at the camera, and just after that the video ended. The hospital says the camera malfunctioned at that point, but when I asked DS Khan to rewind the footage, we noticed something in Ben Elmys’s hand.

ROGER SUMPTION QC

The court will recall I drew attention to this when presenting the footage. What do you think the object might have been?

GRACE OYEWOLE QC for the defendant

My Lord, it is with great reluctance that I find myself on my feet again. There’s no way the witness could know what, if anything, my client was holding.