‘Not yet. And we’re waiting for fibres taken from their clothing to match to the ones found on the victim’s body. But even without that, CPS have given us the green light to charge.’ He pauses. ‘Where are you? I can hear traffic.’

‘Outside the Royal Berkshire Hospital.’

‘Reading? What are you doing there?’

‘I’m with Butler. Helping out with his friend.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Another pause. ‘Do you want us to hold off so you can be the one to charge them? It was your insight, Freya, that got us where we are now.’

She smiles. ‘Don’t be daft, you did the hard work. You take the glory. Just let me know how it goes.’

Josh laughs at the other end of the phone. ‘I will. Are you back tomorrow?’

‘I should think so.’

‘I’ll look forward to it. See you, Freya.’

She ends the call and looks at her phone for a second. Despite the stories round the station, he seems like a nice guy. Maybe, just maybe…

She sighs, then heads back into the hospital. She thinks about Jonathan – what would he say? Go for it, probably. And a relationship with Josh, what would that be like? They’d have to follow the proper procedure, since they work together. Notify Baker, or whoever needed to know, and—

Christ, why is she thinking about this now?

She’s reached the corridor outside Finn’s room. The door is open, and inside she can see Robin talking to his friend, while Josie is sitting watching them, her mouth downturned. What a terrible situation for her, Freya thinks, not knowing whether her son is going to get better. Another victim of that awful night.

Robin gives Finn an awkward hug, then turns to Josie. But she shakes her head at Robin and he walks away, towards where Freya is waiting.

‘Here you are,’ Robin says. He’s trying to keep his tone light, but she recognises the usual signs. His forehead is furrowed, head tilted slightly down, jaw tight. There’s no doubt Robin’s upset. ‘Shall we go?’

He starts walking towards the exit and, without a word, she follows.

62

Robin can feel Freya watching him closely, as they get in his car and start the journey home. But he knows that if he starts to talk, he’ll crumple, and he can’t do that now. He can’t.

He’s still struggling to process what they found on the video and what Steph told them from her post-mortem. Robin knows Craig’s gone away to discuss the case with her superiors, and he wonders what conclusion they’ll come to.