When Caroline finally got home, she slept until midday. Her first thought on waking was to call the office and get an update on Patrick Walsh, but she didn’t. She knew what would have happened. His custody clock had run down, the murder of Arthur Clifton would mean he’d be heavily downgraded as a suspect in Roger’s murder, and he’d have been released. But a nagging doubt stuck at the back of Caroline’s mind.

What if this was all part of the plan? What if Patrick Walsh had killed Roger Clifton, and the reason Arthur was attacked and murdered so suddenly and desperately was because it needed to be done then? To her, it made perfect sense. If Arthur Clifton was murdered while Patrick Walsh was in police custody, that’d throw huge doubt on his guilt — as it had done already. Either way, there was nothing she could do. She was off the case.

Her phone vibrated on the bedside table beside her. She recognised the number immediately. It was the hospital. She pressed the volume button on the side of the phone to silence the call, and put it back down. She didn’t care what they had to say. It was only going to be bad news. Good things weren’t coming her way.

It took another half an hour for her to finally get up and go downstairs. She wanted to wait until she’d heard Mark go out to pick up the shopping, as he did every week. That way, she could ease herself into the day a little more easily.

She looked at the kitchen clock. Should she be having breakfast or lunch? It didn’t seem to matter much either way. She took a bowl from the cupboard and put it on the kitchen work surface. As the porcelain touched the veneered wood, her eyes were drawn to a bottle on the side — one which had been there for a week or so and had largely become part of the furniture. She looked at it for a moment, admiring the way the clear liquid sat almost perfectly level with the top of the label. Before even thinking, she grabbed the bottle, unscrewed the cap and brought it to her lips, gulping down the bitter, aromatic gin. Stopping for breath, she put the bottle back down, feeling the rush of the alcohol almost immediately. The liquid settled, and it became clear how much she’d drunk. She looked behind her again, then took the bottle over to the sink and carefully added cold water until the original level had been restored.