Jane was pretty sure Nick didn’t know his father and Lee Holland had lied to her. But the more she thought about it, the more she worried that going to dinner with him to probe him about the case could compromise the investigation – she should cancel their dinner date under the pretext she had to work. It would be a shame, though. She realised she’d been looking forward to it.

Jane knew there were other ways she could find out what Thomas Durham and Lee Holland were up to, without using Nick or giving anything away. She made her mind up and decided to take her police hat off for the evening, just enjoy herself, and not talk about the investigation.

Jane struggled up Yester Road towards the High Street. It was a steep climb of over a mile, and she regretted not driving the route first to see what it was like. She was so hot she took off her tracksuit top and tied it round her waist.

The last mile home included another hill and halfway up she had to walk to the top. She was grateful that the final stretch was downhill. By the time she got home, she was breathing hard and soaked with sweat. She looked at her watch and was disappointed to see how long it had taken her and how unfit she’d become without regular exercise over the last few weeks.

‘Been out for a run, Jane?’ Gerry asked, seeing her bent over and breathing heavily.

She took a deep inhale. ‘Yes, but I’m beginning to regret it. I had no idea how steep Yester Road is.’

He chuckled. ‘There’s a lot of steep hills in Chislehurst. In fact, the name is derived from the Saxon words cisel, which means gravel, and hyrst, which means wooded hill. There’s quite a bit of woodland around here.’

‘I didn’t see any woods on my run.’

‘There’s Hawkwood and Petts Wood, which are owned by the National Trust, and Scadbury Park Nature Reserve. They’re lovely for walking and running . . . you should try them out sometime.’

‘I will, Gerry, thanks.’

‘My pleasure. How’s the tap holding out?’

‘It’s not dripped once since you fixed it.’

‘That’s what I like to hear,’ he said.

Jane went inside, drank two glasses of water then collapsed on the settee and quickly fell asleep.

The room was in darkness when Jane opened her eyes. Realising the sun had gone down, she jumped up, switched on the table lamp, and looked at her watch. ‘Shit.’ She only had thirty minutes to get ready before Nick Durham arrived to take her to the restaurant. She ran up the stairs, peeled off her tracksuit and got into the shower, wondering if she had time to wash and dry her hair.