‘What if, just for a moment, we buy into this whole doppelgänger narrative and assume that it was Gil who replied to me, pretending to be Kirby,’ he says. ‘He’s back in the UK after nine years, jealous of Rob, of all that he’s achieved, and with only one thing going for him in this world: he looks identical to Rob. If you were set on taking over someone else’s life – becoming that person – social media would be as good a place as any to start. And maybe he’s already begun. If all Rob’s friends are fake accounts, monitored by Gil, it wouldn’t matter which one of them Kate contacted.’

‘And I thought it was just me,’ Bex says. ‘You really think that’s what might be happening?’

Jake can’t be certain about anything any more, not since he discovered Kirby was dead. ‘We have to consider it,’ he says.

‘But why would Gil break cover and let Kate know what he’s up to?’ Bex asks.

‘To send a warning to Rob? A blackmail sting? I don’t know, Bex, but if the story about the birthday party is true, he’s got form threatening others. Maybe he’s in no rush, assumes that Kate will eventually tell him.’

Jake is starting to sound like the resident conspiracy theorist in the Slaughtered Lamb. He blames the internet. He’s been reading a lot of stuff about doubles, and there’s ample evidence online that what Rob told Kate is true: it’s so much easier now to track down your lookalike. And Jake can’t forget how Kate explained to him what it was like to see Rob and believe he was an impostor. She sounded utterly convinced, professional. Like she used to in work mode, when identifying a criminal.

‘Whoever it was, Kate needs to know that Kirby’s dead,’ Bex says. ‘I’ll try her now. Nothing personal, but she might pick up if I ring her.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Jake says. ‘And drive carefully.’

‘This car drives itself.’

He’d forgotten that Bex is in Rob’s fancy Tesla.

‘I’m sure there’s an innocent explanation for all this,’ he adds, without much conviction. ‘I just worry that something else might be going on – that Kate might be in real danger.’

66

Kate

Kate lies back in the roll-top bath and turns on the hot water tap with her big toe. She’s been in here almost an hour and has become quite adept at the manoeuvre. Her trip to Tate Late has been well and truly scuppered. Rob has tried his best to get the front door sorted, but there’s a problem with the facial-recognition software. The contractor is not answering, but Rob thinks he’ll be able to override the system with his master key when he returns.