Sam hadn’t thought of that. ‘Christ, I don’t know. I didn’t think to look. I panicked and ran back to the hut.’ He struggled to remember. Good question. Fucking good question.

‘Can I ask where you were on Tuesday night, Mr Hunt?’

Bad question.

Sam had to think. So he thought, and when he remembered he wished he hadn’t. Sweet Jesus. Another blackout. But the one he hadn’t mentioned to Katie. ‘I was stranded in Stoke Tuesday. Couldn’t get home for the storm.’

‘Were you with anyone who can verify that?’

‘No. I spent the night alone in the company ticket office.’

Sam thought how an innocent man would make a fist and bark at the cops Now quit this shit, what are you guys getting at? But he had the feeling of a thick silt shifting in his stomach. This was a strange and hostile land and he’d lost his compass.

Craig stood, his constable still smarting from the betrayal looking up at him with a scowl.

‘Okay, folks. Thanks for your time. Sorry to have troubled you.’

Daniel closed his notebook and got up, his face telling the tale that he thought his staff sergeant had gone crazy. He looked across at their interviewee and Sam knew Daniel Hawk thought he was looking at a murderer.

Katie was as surprised as Hawk, but she struggled to conceal it in case they changed their minds. She got to her feet to show them out.

Craig smiled at her, then at Sam. ‘I might have to get back to you, Mr Hunt. We’ve got a whole heap of people to talk to.’

Katie pursued them as they headed out. Craig paused in the doorway.

‘By the way, my constable here tells me you two grew up on Redhorn together.’

Sam nodded from his chair. Katie looked at Daniel with interest. ‘Really?’ she said pleasantly.

‘You still use the name Hunting Wolf when you go back, or do they know you by Hunt? Just in case we have to make any routine enquiries.’

Sam turned away, looking into the fire. He spoke quietly. ‘I don’t go back.’

Craig had not been prepared for what he read in Katie Hunt’s face. She didn’t know. Sam hadn’t told her who she’d married. Her eyes were blazing, her back still to her husband, as she fought to keep herself under control. Craig was sorry for her, but the revelation was useful. He buttoned the wind collar on his jacket and left the room, his companion following like a thunder cloud.

The front door closed quietly and Katie stood for nearly a full minute before she turned and faced Sam, and the truth that their lives were changing in a way she didn’t understand.