She looks around at the other buildings, lights shining out into the London twilight. No one else is without power. It’s just Rob’s apartment. And then she’s aware of another light in the sky, red and flashing, heading towards her. For a second she doesn’t know what it is until she hears the telltale buzz of a small drone.

She stands back, stepping towards the doorway as it approaches. Is it one of Rob’s toys? Maybe it’s delivering the master key? It’s the sort of childish thing he’d do, now that he’s invested in a drone courier company. But there’s nothing playful about the hum of its four small propellers. Or the camera, suspended below the drone, its dark lens angled straight at her.

The drone is hovering a few feet away now, at eye level. It starts to move forward, as if ushering her inside. She backs away, but it continues to follow her. Christ, can drones fly indoors? Without thinking, she ducks inside and slams the door shut behind her, frightened of being hurt by its blades.

There’s a sickening click as the glass door locks. She knows what will happen next. Breathless, she stares at the drone, still hovering outside, as the apartment’s final steel blind begins its inexorable descent.

67

Silas

Silas heads for the CID corner of the Parade Room, where he can see Strover at a desk, deep in conversation with someone on her mobile. She’s working late again, without being asked. At least she doesn’t have a family.

As soon as he left Conor in the woods, he called Mel, told her that he’d seen their son. He also announced that he wanted to accompany her to a joint counselling session.

‘Are you doing this for Conor or for you and me?’ she asked.

‘All three of us.’

She said she’d think about it, which is a start.

He sits down next to Strover, now off the phone.

‘That was the Major Crime Team in Truro,’ she says. ‘The SIO’s been trying to contact you.’

Silas turned off his phone in the forest, a belated attempt to focus on his son. He then phoned Mel in the car, ignoring calls from the office in an attempt to focus on her.

‘The County Lines Coordination Centre has confirmed the dead man was involved in a network operating out of Swindon,’ Strover continues. ‘He used to work at the Bluebell until six months ago, but they don’t think he was down in Cornwall selling drugs.’

‘Because he was there to target Kate,’ Silas says, unable to hide his frustration. It would be so much easier if he could take the lead on this case, but his boss thinks otherwise. Devon and Cornwall are running the show and his role is to liaise with their Senior Investigating Officer.

‘I told them that,’ Strover says.