‘Hi,’ she said, taking out her phone and heading to the kitchen.

It had been a mistake to leave Vaughn in the clutches of Connie; she was still annoyed about it, she didn’t know what she had been thinking. In normal circumstances, Vaughn would have made his excuses and left as soon as Connie swanned in the door, but he was in a vulnerable state of mind, and it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that her greedy sister would take advantage of his sensitive state by attempting to borrow money. At the very least, she would expect him to pay for all the drinks.

She tapped a quick message:

Sorry about tonight! Connie can be v pushy!!!

She stared at the screen, uncertain whether to add an x, an X, or even two xxs. Sasha liked to think of Vaughn as a friend and the circumstances were unusual, but it surely wasn’t professional to add kisses on a text to her boss. However, neither was it appropriate for her DCI to share his online dating profile with her. Vaughn, who was always so clear-headed and professional, wasn’t thinking straight. She couldn’t help herself and added another line, with a single token kiss to underline the extraordinary situation.

Sorry again! x

Sasha fired it off before she could change it again and then stared at the phone, hoping he would reply quickly to say he had left the bar, but no text arrived.

‘Everything okay?’

She looked up to see Kev in the doorway. Sasha slapped the phone down on the kitchen island and went to the sink. Ignoring the mountain of plates and dishes stacked there, she ran the cold tap, waiting for the stream of water to chill.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Long day, busy day.’

‘You saw your sister tonight. That always puts you in a good mood.’

‘Oh, you have no idea,’ she told him, and gulped from the glass.

‘I’ve some news,’ he said.

He was standing in a pair of pyjama bottoms and a tee-shirt and she hoped he hadn’t been dressed like that all day. Kev had recently suffered a bout of depression, fallen into a spiral of despair – a delayed reaction to the death of their youngest child, Jake – and quit his job. He was on the mend now, he seemed happier, more resilient, but was apparently in no hurry to rush back to work. Which was fine, she didn’t want to put any pressure on him. But, eyeing the washing-up in the sink, she wondered what he did all day. Whatever it was, it didn’t involve a lot of housework.

Whenever she got home, he rushed to greet her, eager for conversation and companionship. But it could be awkward to compare their days; Kev got a vicarious pleasure from hearing about her work, but she was wary of burdening him with any upsetting stuff.

I saw the shattered body parts of a man hit by a train today, how was Bargain Hunt?