Tom stood up, said a sharp goodbye to his colleagues and walked out of the lounge. He passed so close to Perez that the inspector was sure the doctor would see him. But Tom was so upset that he seemed not to notice that Perez was there.

Back in the lounge, the two other doctors continued talking.

‘I think he’s hiding something,’ the woman said.

‘Not murder!’ The man was shocked. He was older, grey-haired. ‘Not Tom! I’ve known him for years.’

‘Perhaps not murder, but there’s something he’s not telling us. You’ll have to sort it out, James. You’re the senior partner. We can’t go on like this.’

The woman got to her feet, grabbed her bag and swept past Perez into the darkness outside. The older man stayed where he was, apparently lost in thought. Perez left his hiding place and took the seat beside him. The chair was old and very comfortable. It was a chair for relaxing in.

‘I was going to order some coffee,’ Perez said. ‘Will you join me?’

The older doctor looked surprised. ‘I’m sorry, but do I know you? You don’t sound as if you come from round here.’

‘I’m a detective based in Shetland. I’ve been asked to look again at the Anna Blackwell case. I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.’

They were still the only people in the lounge, which was dimly lit and very warm.

‘Ah,’ the doctor said. ‘We’d hoped that was all over. It seems rather a shame to rake over the case again, but I suppose you have your work to do.’ He paused. ‘Yes, if we have to talk, coffee would be splendid, thank you.’

Perez went to the bar to order the drinks. When he came back, balancing cups on a tray, the doctor was almost asleep. Perez set the tray on a low table and the man roused himself and held out his hand.

‘James Given,’ he said. ‘I retire from the surgery next year. I’d rather be leaving without all this scandal.’

‘Did you know the dead woman?’ Perez asked.

‘I only saw her once when she brought her daughter into the health centre with an ear infection.’ He paused. ‘She seemed a kind woman. She cared a lot for the child. That’s why . . .’ James Given paused mid-sentence.

Perez completed it. ‘That’s why it seems unlikely that Miss Blackwell committed suicide?’

James nodded.

‘Gossip has it that Anna and Tom were having an affair,’ Perez said.

‘I don’t believe that for a second!’ the doctor said. ‘Really, Tom adores Sarah. They’re a perfect couple.’

Perez remembered that he didn’t believe in perfect any more. ‘Is there anything else you can tell me?’ he asked. ‘Anything I should know?’

There was a moment of hesitation.

‘I think Tom might have known Anna before she moved here,’ the doctor said at last. ‘I don’t mean that they were lovers. No, there was nothing like that going on, whatever the gossips might be saying. I think perhaps Tom was a friend of her parents. It was just a sense I had when Anna brought her little girl to the surgery. She’d asked to see Tom but he wasn’t free, and she explained that she’d chosen him first because he was almost like family.’