‘Okay.’ She frowned at his self-assurance and sat on the sofa opposite, careful to tug the dress towards her knees. ‘I find your terms acceptable.’

‘Although if I was your handsome husband,’ the guy said, ‘I’d move heaven and earth to be with you.’

She sipped the champagne and felt the bubbles flutter in her skull. ‘Who said he was handsome?’

‘He’s got to be, to have a chance with such a beautiful woman.’

She cringed at the terrible line. ‘He’ll be doing everything he can to get here.’

The man nodded over the top of his glass. ‘Sounds like a nice guy.’

‘He is, he’s…’ She thought about it. ‘He’s one of a kind.’

‘I’m sure he’s a lot of things – he’s just not here. I’m Ian, by the way.’

He held out a hand and when she took it, it was strong and warm.

‘Hello, Ian. Sasha.’

Then he winced, as if to say, Hear me out. ‘Look, I’m famous for putting my foot in it. Tell me to get lost if I’m prying, but I get this vibe from you…’ She cocked her head when he hesitated. ‘You seem sad.’

‘Wow.’ Sasha gulped her drink; the glass was half empty now, and the man immediately leaned forward to top it up. ‘You don’t waste time with the observations. I love him… very much. He’s the love of my life. It’s just sometimes…’

She shook her head; it would be unwise to continue with the train of thought.

‘Tell me,’ he said.

She traced a finger around the top of her glass. ‘Okay then, I don’t think things have been good between us for a while. There, I said it.’

‘Let me guess, he’s inattentive, a little bit distant. He probably takes you for granted after all these years. You love each other, but you’ve both let things drift. Your marriage is in the doldrums and neither of you know how to get out of the slump.’

Sasha’s phone buzzed and she quickly took it out, hoping it was a message to say Rachel Weston had been found, but it was just a spam mail from one of the utility companies.

‘I’m sorry.’ She dumped the device back in her bag, annoyed at her Pavlovian obedience to it. ‘He’s been a bit down lately and I suppose I’m just as preoccupied, what with work and everything, and we need to make time for each other. It’s important that we put some fun back into our relationship.’ She smiled sadly. ‘But it’s hard.’

‘If your work is important to you, you shouldn’t have to apologize for that.’

‘Yeah,’ she admitted. ‘And what I do has real consequences for people. I’m a police officer, a detective.’