I don’t have an appetite, but I cook a bowl of pasta, serving up plates for myself and Niamh, which we eat together at the kitchen table. Andrew has half a bottle of Scotch inside him when he comes into the kitchen.

‘Fucking pathetic, Elise,’ he snarls, with no thought for the fact that Niamh is sitting there, listening to his every word. ‘Thinking you can exclude me.’

I glance at her, shaking my head slightly. ‘I didn’t want to interrupt you, Andrew. There’s plenty in the pan.’ I’d like to say more but I bite my tongue. If my plan works, evenings like this will soon be over.

Instead of going back to the sitting room, he comes and joins us at the table, even though Niamh and I have finished eating. Niamh’s eyes scan mine, her face anxious.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, Andrew’s foul mood like a stench pervading the room. In the end, it’s too much for Niamh. She gets up and rushes out, then I hear her feet on the stairs. Glaring at Andrew, I get up to follow her.

‘Stay here, Elise,’ he growls. ‘I want to talk to you.’

‘There is nothing you can say that I want to hear,’ I tell him before going upstairs and knocking gently on Niamh’s door.

She’s distraught. ‘Why is he like this?’ She sobs. ‘He’s so horrible to us. He’s horrible to you. Why can’t he be nice?’

Putting my arms around her, I hold her tightly. ‘Listen,’ I whisper fiercely. ‘Your father can’t go on doing this – to either of us. I won’t let him. Hold on, just a little bit longer, Niamh. It isn’t going to be forever.’

*

I sleep fitfully that night, inspired by the thought of freedom, but preoccupied by the reality of what’s ahead. The next morning, I get dressed in my uniform and leave the house early, knowing exactly what I have to do. If the day goes the way I’m hoping it will, by the time Andrew gets home tonight, a very different future will lie ahead.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Jo

After picking up a voicemail from Elise Buckley, I call her back but she doesn’t answer. Knowing she could be at work, I make a note to try her later on, before going to talk to James Hampton. When I reach the interview room, he and his lawyer are already seated.

‘Mr Hampton.’ I sit down. ‘We won’t keep you long. I’m just waiting for DI Saunders to join us.’

As I finish speaking, the door opens and he appears in the doorway. ‘A moment, May?’ He nods towards the corridor. I glance at James Hampton briefly as I stand.