He pulled out his phone and looked at the serial number the doctor had given him. He typed it in to compare the DNA and see if it had flagged against anything else – they had different databases to the hospital. He felt sick even typing it in, worried that someone would figure out what he was doing.

There were no connected cases, but that could change. He closed it quickly as the thought that one day a name might pop up there crossed his mind. What would he do? He had no idea and just thinking about it made him feel sick; he could feel the colour draining from his face.

‘What time did you get in?’ Imogen said as she sat down.

He hadn’t even noticed her approach.

‘Not long now; about half an hour ago.’

He slid the papers out of the printer tray and quickly put them in his bottom drawer.

‘Notice anything new? Anything jump out at you?’

‘Sorry. Nothing yet.’

‘Did you eat?’

‘I grabbed a sandwich on my way in,’ he lied.

‘I’m just heading off to Shropshire with Walsh, but call me if you need anything.’

‘I will,’ he said, almost relieved that she wasn’t going to be here watching him.

He could feel her watching him all the time these days. She knew something was wrong and he had to make sure she never found out what that something was. The thought of her knowing made him want to throw up. He remembered promising her that he would always be honest with her. In the past he had taken it upon himself to conceal the truth in order to protect her from his occasionally terrible professional decisions, but this was different. He had to keep this from her. There was no other choice.

Chapter Sixty-One

Adrian took a deep breath before entering Gary’s office, steeling himself for the inevitable physical contact and reminding himself that Gary was one of the good guys. As suspected, Gary’s face lit up when he saw Adrian and he put his arms around him in a hug. Gary was one of the few male friends that Adrian had. He had transferred in from Plymouth after Imogen came to Exeter. They became friends almost instantly. Despite the hug, Adrian was surprisingly pleased to see Gary.

‘Mate! You’ve been missed!’ his friend said.

‘I can tell. Sorry I haven’t been in touch; really not been well,’ Adrian said, pulling away.

‘Imogen said you were properly ill. I think she was really worried you weren’t going to make it.’

‘A stomach flu coupled with a fractured rib are not happy bedfellows.’

‘Well, it’s been weird without you. DCI said I need to catch you up on the case.’

‘Imogen’s been keeping me informed for the most part.’