‘Ms Brown,’ the attractive one says. He has a thick French accent.

‘Hi,’ I say, my brain whirring.

How did they find me?

‘I’m Commandant Luneau and this is Brigadier Moor.’

‘Hello,’ Brigadier Moor says, reaching out a hand for me to shake. He has a perfect London accent. He was clearly handpicked due to his linguistic skills.

‘We tried to call you,’ Luneau continues.

The missed calls. The private number.

‘We just have some questions for you.’

But how did they get my number?

‘Of course,’ I say. But Ambien is still slowing my mind. I need coffee just to be lucid.

‘Is there somewhere we can speak privately?’ Luneau asks.

‘Yes,’ I say, turning to Judy, whose mouth is still a little open. Her eyes are apologetic like she tried to warn me.

‘You can take the meeting room?’ Judy suggests.

‘Thanks,’ I say. ‘I’m going to grab a coffee, can I get either of you something?’

‘A coffee please,’ says Luneau.

‘Yes, same, thank you,’ says Moor.

‘Great, I’ll be right back. Judy can show you to the room.’

Judy gives a small, scared smile, like she’s never seen a policeman in such close proximity before. As I move towards the kitchen, I hear her say in French, ‘This way, gentlemen.’

Wesley is in the kitchen when I get there, fucking around by the Nespresso machine, trying to decide whether he’d like a black pod or a purple one this morning. He looks up, sees me, and I swear to god he slows down just because I’m clearly in a rush.

I wait for him in silence, pulling three cups and saucers out of the cupboard and placing them on a black plastic tray. He finally decides on the purple one then makes his coffee, while I pour milk into a milk jug and pull out some teaspoons and a bowl of sugar cubes and run through what I’m going to say in my mind.

She videoed us. She threatened to tell his wife. Noah ran after her. I don’t know anything after that.

Simple. I have nothing to hide. So why are my hands shaking? Is it the Ambien? Or is it the fact that once I say it, I can’t unsay it? They’ll look for that video, and if they find it, Noah will become their prime suspect. And fuck my life, I kind of liked him.

Wesley finally leaves and I make the coffee, pick up the tray and head back through the open-plan office towards the meeting room, glancing in at Hyacinth’s office. She’s not in. That’s good. I don’t want to have to explain things to her yet if I don’t have to.