Sasha sipped the tea. ‘Let’s err on the side of stupid.’

‘Liam is moving on, which is no great loss. He’s always been the most disagreeable member of our community, even when he’s clean and sober, which isn’t very often. He’ll be gone by the end of the day, and good riddance. But let’s be clear, policewoman, we’re not in the habit of handing people over to the filth. And the boxes downstairs are being removed as we speak. One of our people was doing someone a favour by keeping them here for a couple of days, which was a stupid thing to do, but by the time we’re raided, if that’s your plan, it’ll all be long gone, I can promise you that.’

Sasha hadn’t even thought about the hooky gear; she was just interested in warming her hands on the mug. The yellow liquid inside was hot and fragrant.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For… stepping in.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Lauren picked up the warrant card that was placed on the table with the other contents of Sasha’s bag and read it. ‘Just what are you doing here, Detective Inspector Sasha Dawson?’

‘You’re Lauren Weston,’ said Sasha.

The woman chucked the card down. ‘I haven’t been called Lauren for years, I’m Lore now. What do you want with me?’

‘A friend of your brother, Jeremy, a man named Tony Gardner, was murdered in his home in Hadleigh. We took DNA from the crime scene that closely matches your brother’s. It’s familial DNA, from a close female relative.’

Lore nodded at Sasha’s white hair. ‘Is that dyed or what?’

‘It’s all natural.’

Lore made a face ‘You must have had a hard life.’

Sasha smiled. ‘Just lucky genes, I guess.’

‘I have no idea who Tony Gardner is.’

‘But we found DNA in—’

‘In his house, yes. When did this happen?’

‘He was killed yesterday morning.’

‘I didn’t get out of bed till two o’clock in the afternoon, and I wasn’t alone, so I have an alibi. I don’t know what familial DNA is, I don’t know this Tony Gardner, and I’ve never been to Hadleigh, which means you need to give your forensic’ – she made quotation marks in the air – ‘experts a firm kick up the arse.’

‘Tony Gardner is Jeremy’s—’

‘I heard what you said,’ snapped Lore. ‘But I ain’t seen Jezzer in years. He’s got his fancy life now, ain’t that right? He don’t want anything to do with me, he’s made that clear, and the feeling is mutual.’

‘Then we’d like to DNA test you,’ said Sasha.

‘Yeah,’ said Lore sarcastically. ‘Good luck with that. I don’t know any of the people Jez hangs around with these days, so whoever’s DNA that is, it ain’t mine.’