‘For this?’ Katie was confused.

‘For murder. Three more people died this afternoon. Staff Sergeant Becker believes your husband can help with enquiries.’

She stared at him with pleading eyes, begging him silently to say it was a mistake. He returned her gaze steadily.

Katie closed her eyes and let the tears seep from under the lids. She lay her head back on the sofa and bit her bottom lip. Craig waited. There was silence for a long time, broken only by her laboured breathing and the gasps she made when a sob racked her frame. Then she opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. ‘You know he wasn’t home the night your man was killed? The man that was here.’

‘Yes.’

She looked across at him, almost lazily. ‘How did you know?’

‘I saw you were lying when I asked you.’

She nodded as if that were fair and obvious, and looked back at the ceiling again. Her tears were still falling, although she had wrestled control of her voice. ‘And you all think it’s him.’

‘Mrs … Katie, I came here to warn you about Sam’s arrest, but also to talk to you about some other stuff. Stuff that might seem a little crazy.’

‘You don’t think my husband being a killer is crazy enough for me?’

‘For sure.’ Craig gestured vaguely at the kitchen.

She sat forward and wiped her nose on her hand. Katie’s eyes were growing fierce with something. ‘Give me the crazy stuff, Staff Sergeant.’

He tried to smooth the frown off his brow. ‘Craig.’

‘Okay, Craig. I need to know what you’re thinking. There’s nothing you can throw at me that’ll be wilder than real life right now.’

For a moment Craig McGee wondered what he was doing here. He struggled with what he was going to say next, and yet this woman’s gaze was so earnest, so trusting, he felt that he could share this dark thing he’d been harbouring with her.

‘That paper you gave me. Do you believe the stuff in it?’

She struggled to understand what he meant. This was not what she was expecting. He watched her think and then turn to him, thrown.

‘Some of it. Sure. It was observed quite scientifically by a respected academic.’ Her interest had halted her tears, and she sniffed as she wiped away mucus from a streaming nose.

‘So you believe in shape-shifting and animal possession?’

‘Why? What is this?’

He bent his head and looked at the carpet. ‘They’re going to try and pin these murders on Sam, Katie, and I’m sure they’ll do a good job of making it stick. The strongest thing they have is that he has no alibi, for any of the killings. That’s a lot of coincidences.’