‘He seems a nice man. It would be rude to just get up and leave.’

‘Vaughn is vulnerable right now, Con. He’s just split with his wife. So please don’t barge in like a bull in a china shop.’

‘Has he?’ Connie put a hand to her chest. ‘That poor man. Then I’d say he definitely needs a drink.’

‘But we’re going after this bottle, yes? We’re going to get something to eat?’

‘Of course we are.’ Connie rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t get into such a flap about everything.’

‘And don’t tell him I told you about the break-up. He’s a private man and he wouldn’t like it if—’

Connie stood immediately when Vaughn returned with an ice bucket containing a bottle of white wine. ‘You poor man, I just heard. You must be devastated.’

Vaughn placed down the bucket and three glasses. Embarrassed, he poured from the bottle. ‘These things happen.’

‘It’s awful,’ said Connie. ‘And I should know.’

Sasha frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Oh, me and Barry split up,’ said Connie sadly.

‘Wait.’ Sasha didn’t believe a word of it. ‘Since when?’

But Connie ignored her, making eye contact with Vaughn as he poured her a glass of wine. ‘We’re in the same boat, my love. Two lonely people forced to begin again. It’s not going to be easy, not at our age.’ She wiped something from her eye with her little finger. ‘What will become of us?’

‘There’s plenty of time for you, Connie,’ said Vaughn with a hesitant smile. ‘You must be in your twenties.’

Connie squeezed his wrist. ‘Oh, you charmer.’

‘Tell me, Con,’ insisted Sasha. ‘When did you split up with Barry, exactly?’

Sasha had never liked Connie’s partner, who was dishonest and a bit creepy, but this split was totally out of the blue.

Connie waved a hand, like she didn’t want to talk about it. ‘A week or so ago. It’s still very upsetting, to be honest.’ Connie held up her glass so that Vaughn could clink his against it. ‘We’ll just have to drown our sorrows.’

‘We’re going to have to go soon if we want to get something to eat.’ Sasha had seen that focused look before on her sister’s face, and knew she had to remove her from the building as soon as possible.

But the minutes dragged on as Connie asked Vaughn question after question about his career as a Detective Chief Inspector, despite having never shown the slightest interest in Sasha’s own long career in Essex Police.

‘So as Sasha’s boss, you get to tell her what to do.’ Connie touched his hand. ‘I bet that’s a thankless task.’

‘Sasha is…’ Glass poised at his mouth, Vaughn gave the question genuine thought. ‘Sasha is Sasha.’

It wasn’t the total repudiation of Connie’s impudent remark that Sasha had been hoping for. She knocked back the dregs of her glass. ‘Come on, Connie, we have to go.’

‘You should get something to eat,’ Vaughn agreed. ‘I’ll finish this wine and get back to the hotel.’