‘In here. Over there …’ I point towards the worktop beside the oven. ‘He grabbed my arm and slapped me across the face. Then he pushed me into the corner and slapped me again. I think he must have punched me here.’ I point to the swelling below my left eye. ‘I remember his hands around my throat. I felt a blow to my stomach. After that, all I remember is arriving in hospital. Andrew was with me. He told the nurses that I’d had too much to drink and fallen down the stairs. He also told them he had concerns about my mental state – that he had for some time.’ I shake my head, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice. ‘While I was in hospital, he called the estate agent I’d used to rent the cottage. He told them I wouldn’t be taking it and that they could keep the rent I’d paid in advance. Told them to keep my money … Then he called the airline I work for and told them what he’d told the hospital staff. I’m suspended from flying duties. Basically, my employers now think I’m mentally unstable.’

‘He’s assaulted you before?’

I nod. ‘A number of times. If you’re looking for a pattern, I think it’s to do with when he’s under pressure of some kind. But there’s an underlying current of emotional abuse that never stops.’

‘Have you ever told anyone about what he does to you?’

This is the hardest part to explain. ‘Until now, no. You see, Andrew holds the winning hand. He’s always said he can prove that I’m unreliable and unstable. He can bring me down.’ I stare at Sergeant Collins.

‘Isn’t that exactly what he’s doing now?’ Her voice is insistent. ‘With the estate agent and your employer? How much worse can it get?’

Swallowing, I remember what he said in the hospital. ‘He came to see me …’ My voice is husky. ‘In the hospital. He threatened me again. He said he’d see to it that I’d never walk again …’

A look of shock crosses Sergeant Collins’s face, as I go on. ‘You don’t know my husband. If you spoke to him about what’s happened, he’d convince you that my injuries are self-inflicted. That I make his life a misery, that I’m damaging Niamh. He’ll even tell you …’ I break off.

‘What were you about to say?’ Sergeant Collins looks at me.

I sigh shakily. ‘He’ll tell you it was my fault our son died.’ A tear rolls down my cheek. ‘And the trouble is … in many ways, he’s right.’

Chapter Forty

Jo