‘What if he was?’ Silas says as they approach Strover’s road, a row of mid-Victorian terraced houses close to Swindon station. ‘According to the barman, a Tesla was at the scene of Kate’s crash. And he thinks he spotted the same vehicle in the pub car park earlier.’

‘That still doesn’t put Rob in the pub,’ Strover says.

‘It does if he was sitting in the corner, watching her.’ Silas parks up and turns off the engine. ‘He sees the barman do something suspicious with her drink. When she leaves, he follows Kate home in his Tesla.’

‘You make it sound like he was stalking Kate,’ Strover says, struggling to hide her frustration.

‘Or protecting her,’ Silas says. ‘Unfortunately, Kate’s success as a super recogniser was all over the press.’

It’s still just a hunch. Silas can’t prove that Rob was in the pub – most CCTV cameras only keep footage for up to a month before they start to overwrite.

‘All we know is that someone who drives a Tesla was definitely looking out for Kate that night,’ he continues, checking his own enthusiasm. ‘Keen to keep her alive after she crashed.’

As if on cue, an ambulance appears from a side street, lights flashing, and pulls onto the main road, heading back towards the nearby Great Western Hospital in eerie silence. No need for a siren tonight.

‘Six months later, someone seems to be protecting her again,’ Silas continues. ‘And we have to consider that it might be Rob. Her guardian angel. A man tries to spike Kate’s coffee and then attempts to run her down in the street. Now that man’s dead.’

Strover sits back, blowing out her cheeks. Silas is happy to wait, let it all sink in. There’s no proof that Rob has taken the law into his own hands. Not yet.

‘What about Gilmour Martin?’ she asks. ‘It could have been him. I mean, why would Rob be keen to protect Kate before he’d even met her?’

‘We know nothing about the man except that he happens to look like Rob,’ he says.

‘And he was seen driving around Cornwall in a Tesla when the barman was shot dead – by an unusual gun fired in Thailand, where Gilmour was last seen. Kate said Rob was worried about having a double.’

Silas glances at Strover. Her interest in Gilmour is starting to niggle like a sore tooth. They need to talk to Kate again, Rob too. Ask them about his weird fears, why he thinks he’s in danger from his doppelgänger. Wouldn’t he have alerted the police if he was really worried? Asked for protection?

‘You saw the security at Rob’s house in Cornwall,’ he says. ‘Cameras everywhere. I think Rob has always feared that Kate has been at risk from the people she identified. And perhaps from other people too.’

72

Kate