‘I don’t know you. I think at this point it doesn’t matter what I think.’

‘It matters to me,’ Adrian said, trying to ignore what he felt DI Walsh was inferring.

‘I think you will probably get assigned to desk duty for as long as it takes to clear your name,’ DI Walsh said unapologetically.

‘Imogen. You believe me, right? I didn’t do this.’ He could feel his voice getting higher as he got more agitated.

‘I know you didn’t,’ she said without hesitation, calming the swirling in his head for a second.

‘False rape claims are a lot rarer than people think they are,’ DI Walsh said. ‘There’s a lot of physical evidence that she’s been assaulted.’

‘I’m not saying she wasn’t raped, I’m saying it wasn’t me,’ Adrian said.

‘Well, the PSD will clear it up. Now, let’s get back to the station.’

‘Am I under arrest?’

‘That’s not my call. DCI Kapoor will make that decision. I think there will be at least some preliminary investigation before that happens. See what the rape kit turns up.’

All Adrian could think about was what had happened to Caitlin; it was horrific and brutal. Maybe the head injury she’d sustained had messed with her memory and she really did think he had done it. He had dropped her off, but then driven straight home before walking to the pub. Something was bothering him about the timing of all of this though. For him to coincidentally get mugged on the same day, covered in scrapes and bruises on the exact same night, what were the chances? Maybe the attack on him wasn’t a random mugging, after all. Maybe he was targeted. But why would someone target him? And what did Caitlin have to do with it? Adrian couldn’t help feeling paranoid at this point. After what he had been through in the past with Dominic Shaw, his son’s stepfather – a man who dedicated his life to messing Adrian’s up – he didn’t believe in coincidences and the fact that the attack on Caitlin happened the same night as his attack meant that someone had planned this. But why? What was the end game?

DI Walsh walked in front as they exited the hospital and Imogen dropped back a little until she was by Adrian’s side.

‘What are you thinking?’ she said to Adrian in a whisper, clearly not wanting to draw DI Walsh into the conversation.

‘I swear I didn’t do this.’ Adrian felt compelled to say it over and over again.

‘I know you didn’t,’ she reassured him.

‘I was telling the truth about last night, too. I got jumped. What if that and this are connected?’

‘That seems a little far-fetched.’

‘After everything we’ve seen over the last couple of years you think that’s far-fetched?’

‘OK, say it is connected. What is it about? Hugh Norris? Owen Sager? Is it because of what she told us at the station yesterday? And why would they target you?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine. Do you think she’s lying, or do you think she’s just remembering it wrong?’