‘We’re going to go and speak to his mother again, see if they can tell us anything.’

Adrian finish the recording and nodded to the constable to take Finn back to holding.

‘What do you think?’ Adrian said. ‘He’s weird, right?’

‘Seems OK to me. All over the place a bit, but that could be nerves. Then again, I have no point of reference. If you say he’s different to the last time you met him then maybe he is.’

They walked into the observation room where DCI Kapoor was waiting for them.

‘It’s late or early depending on how you look at it. Should we go and see Judith Beacham now?’ Adrian looked at the clock – it was three in the morning.

‘Go home, grab a couple of hours’ sleep, get showered and then go and see the mother at first light,’ the DCI said. ‘I wish I could offer you more than that, but we don’t know when the next body is going to turn up and as you seem to have the firmest grasp on the facts of this case, better if you do the interviews at this point – we need continuity right now. You might spot something someone else doesn’t.’

She was right, there were some cases you just couldn’t walk away from until they were done and dusted. When the threat of people being hurt was imminent, a good night’s sleep was the furthest thing from your mind. You just wanted to make sure that no one else died on your watch.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Imogen pulled up outside Adrian’s house and stopped the car. Adrian paused before turning to her. Still in the very early stages of a relationship, she had no idea what the protocol was now when they were driving each other home, as they always had done. It didn’t make much sense for both of them to drive into work. They were saving the environment. Now maybe the environment didn’t matter as much as setting boundaries.

‘What are you going to do now?’ Imogen asked.

‘Sleep. It’s been a while,’ Adrian said.

‘Oh, okay,’ Imogen tried not to sound disappointed.

‘You’re welcome to come in. I don’t want you to feel that you have to hang out with me all the time. But you should know that I would be fine with that.’

‘I might be OK with that as well.’ She smiled.

‘Come inside for a bit then?’ he said; he had that concerned look on his face.

She switched the engine off. She didn’t want to be alone right now, the image of Caitlin was still fresh in her mind.

They both got out and went inside. The house was cold; the heating had obviously been off for several hours. As soon as they were inside, Adrian put his arms around Imogen and held her close.

‘You smell like the station soap.’ He gently touched her face and she looked up. She liked the way Adrian looked at her now they were together. She could feel him studying her face and wondered what he was looking for.