She glanced around the floor and thought there was not one woman in the office she could call a good friend. There had been once. Saskia. But Laura’s fingers had been burned by that friendship, when the lines between work and her social life blurred, and after that she knew it was advisable to keep the women who worked for her at arm’s length.

Yet it meant there wasn’t anyone else in the office she felt she could confide in about what was happening, while there was every possibility that Mia already could. And that thought made Laura feel suddenly so alone.

She was still standing by the lifts, this realisation dawning on her, when Mia finished her conversation and then turned to have a new one with the quiet woman Laura had seen earlier in the toilets. Sarah Clifton had been hovering nearby, and now that Henrietta had gone, Mia’s attention was solely on Sarah instead, but there was a very different dynamic between these two women. The way Mia hung her head, her brow furrowed, one hand lightly touching Sarah’s arm, rubbing it gently as she finished talking to her, before her gaze drifted over Sarah’s shoulder to Laura.

Laura inhaled a tight breath as Sarah left the water cooler and Mia started walking towards her. Whether she was prepared for it or not, they were about to talk, and Laura knew she was going to have to play this carefully.

Tuesday 14 May

Initial interviews between DC Emily Marlow and the staff of Morris & Wood, following the fire on Monday 13 May

Henrietta James, Senior Account Manager

Marlow:You say things started to change at Morris & Wood when Laura came back from maternity leave. What do you mean by that?

Henrietta:I mean everyone was on edge. There was a tension in the air and we didn’t know what to do for the best.

Marlow:Tension between Laura and Mia?

Henrietta:Yes. Mainly.

Marlow:What happened between them?

Henrietta:Well, they both tried to hide it in the office, but then Laura Denning got it into her head that Mia was somehow out to get her. Like she had come for her job on purpose or something.

Marlow:Do you believe that was the case?

Henrietta:Of course not. Laura was trying to blame her because she wanted her account back. Why on earth would Mia do that?

Marlow:I don’t know.

Henrietta:Well, she wouldn’t. It makes no sense.

Marlow:Yet Laura thought she had. How do you know this – did Laura tell you?

Henrietta:(laughs) No. No, she wouldn’t have told me. I overheard her, speaking to Harry. She said she had evidence, but – well, I didn’t hear the rest of it. All I know is that Harry seemed to get annoyed with her. He ushered her into his office pretty quick.

Marlow:Harry got annoyed? Did this cause tensions between them, then?