Her family could be maddening – Ursula and Alec, Kev, her children, Connie – they drove her to distraction sometimes. Let’s face it, she thought, families are exhausting. But as a police officer, Sasha saw every day how death came suddenly and often violently to random people, fracturing loving relationships. Wives, husbands, children and parents suddenly lost the people closest to them – worlds were upturned, lives destroyed – and she considered how lucky she was that her family she loved were healthy, happy – and safe. They could be maddening, they all got exasperated with one another, but they were all blessed to have each other.

Sasha lifted her glass in a toast. ‘Bottoms up, everybody. Thanks for coming.’

And as everyone sipped from their glasses, and Ursula took plates from the cupboard, there was a ring on the bell. She said, ‘That’ll be Con. I’ll get it.’

Sasha poured her sister a glass of Prosecco in readiness and said, ‘Help yourself to some dips, Dad.’

‘You’re alright, Con,’ he said. ‘I’m fine.’

‘It’s Sasha, Dad,’ she corrected him, and glanced at Kev, who raised an eyebrow. They heard voices at the door and Ursula came back into the room with her eyes on stalks.

‘Connie’s brought someone,’ she said, and mouthed dramatically, ‘it’s a man.’

Sasha felt her stomach lurch, just as Connie came into the room to kiss and hug everybody, rushing around like a whirlwind, and behind her Vaughn appeared at the door, a bottle of wine in his hand.

‘Hello,’ he said.

‘Look who I’ve brought with me. Mum, Dad, this is Claude.’

Kev stepped forward to shake his hand. ‘Good to see you, Vaughn.’

Alec nodded and offered a hand. ‘Nice one, son.’

While Connie and Ursula began to argue about how the chicken wings should have been marinated, Vaughn came over to Sasha to ask her quietly, ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m good, Vaughn, really I am,’ she told him, trying to sound grateful for his concern and discretion, but, in truth, absolutely seething that he was here in her kitchen, with her sister and parents. ‘I got barely a scratch.’

‘The body has been confirmed as Tony Gardner,’ he told her.

‘How do you know that?’

‘DS de Vaz told me.’

‘He called you?’ She was a little bit put out. ‘I asked him to call me.’

‘The post-mortem is being done tonight. The body was pretty badly burned, but there were localized scorch marks on his stomach and arms, same as Andrew Dean. He was attacked with a cattle prod.’

‘What about his eyes?’ she asked. ‘Was he blinded by acid?’

‘We don’t know at this stage. We’ll have a better picture by tomorrow morning.’

‘I’m surprised that Ajay called you, as—’

‘I called him,’ he told her. ‘He’s got it all under control. He’s a very capable detective.’