He cuts Bex off and sits up in the chair in front of the computer, trying to process what he’s just heard and wondering why Hart is ringing him. He hopes Hart has news about the arsonist who torched his boat. Maybe something about the pub footage too. That’s obviously why he went down to Cornwall, to talk to Kate, who then talked to Bex about it.

‘Any news?’ Jake says.

‘You tell me.’

Jake doesn’t like Hart’s tone. The bloke can be so affable one minute, intimidating the next. ‘How do you mean?’ he asks, shifting awkwardly in his seat.

‘Taken out any insurance recently?’

Jake breathes a sigh of relief. ‘Yeah, finally upgraded to some decent cover,’ he says. ‘Thank God.’

Until now, he’s just had the basic third-party cover – damage to locks and other boats – that’s required to get a licence from the Canal and River Trust.

‘Four days ago,’ Hart says. ‘Three days before your boat was destroyed.’

He’s so naive. It never occurred to him how it might appear in the light of the fire. For months he’d been meaning to get the insurance upgraded to cover contents. Just like he’s been planning to set up an ISA, buy some premium bonds and do his tax return early for once. All part of his sober, self-improvement plan.

‘And that’s a problem?’ Jake asks.

‘You can see how it might look,’ Hart says. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’

The line drops. A moment later, the cat jumps up onto his lap, steps with its front paws onto the keyboard and wakes up the computer screen. A picture of Rob in Brest stares back at him.

38

Silas

‘We’re off back up to Wiltshire,’ Silas says, finding himself standing in the doorway of Kate’s house in Cornwall for the second time that day. On this occasion they rang the doorbell and smiled at the security camera. No need for carnations. He’d been hoping for a quick cream tea before they went, but they need to beat the Sunday-night traffic.

‘Have a safe drive,’ Kate says. ‘And watch out for…’ She hesitates, swaying slightly on her feet in front of Silas.

Is she drunk? It’s four o’clock in the afternoon.

‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ Silas asks, glancing at Strover. She’d reassured him earlier that Kate was fine after the run-in with the car, but she doesn’t look herself.

‘All good,’ Kate says, unconvincingly.

Her friend Bex appears at her shoulder, grinning at him and Strover. Dear God, they’re both drunk.

‘I was just going to say watch out for the speed camera on the border with Cornwall and Devon,’ Kate says, pointing in the air with her finger. ‘There’s a sneaky police van at the bottom of the hill – Rob is always being caught there. But then I remembered you are the police and…’