‘I think you are holding yourself back and I don’t know why. I suspect it has something to do with DS Miles, again. I think you two are too close. And I think your loyalty to him is both admirable and also professional suicide.’

‘Thank you for being so blunt. My reasons for not wanting to put myself forward are more to do with the fact that I don’t feel ready yet. I was never in this to become chief of police. Advancement is not something I crave. I like the role I am in. Do I seem like someone who would let another person hold me back?’

‘I guess not and for what it’s worth, I am not spying on you for the DCI,’ Walsh said.

It was the first time she remembered him actually referring to their boss by rank and not her first name. Maybe he finally understood why there felt like a division between him and the rest of the team.

‘What’s your favourite band, then? What music do you like?’ Imogen continued.

‘Anything but jazz.’

‘Amen to that.’

They talked about music for a while and Imogen felt the invisible barrier between them dissolve a little. They didn’t have a great deal in common, but he was a serious man and she realised he just didn’t speak when he didn’t need to. Maybe she had had a problem with him, after all.

She noticed how he had braced himself before she started asking questions. She wondered what question he was most worried about. Everyone has one, that one question you can’t lie or laugh your way out of, the one that exposes you for who you are. Her worries about Matt Walsh faded as they got closer to Shropshire. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all.

Chapter Sixty-Three

Adrian dialled Clive Osborne’s mother in Spain. She answered almost immediately. He heard her take a long drag on a cigarette and exhale while she waited for him to introduce himself.

‘Mrs Osborne, I am calling from Exeter police in the Devon constabulary to speak to you about your son, Clive?’

‘It’s Mrs Ortega now. Is Clive in trouble?’

‘Nothing like that, Ma’am. We just wondered when the last time you heard from him was?’

‘Did you say Exeter? Why is Exeter police interested in what Clive is up to?’

‘He is a possible witness to a crime. We just want to speak to him about it. Can you tell me the last time you heard from him?’

‘Why, yes, it was about two weeks ago.’

‘You heard from him two weeks ago? Where is he?’

‘Once a month he sends me some cash to keep me in ciggies, bless him. Lovely boy, my Clive.’

‘So, you haven’t actually spoken to him or seen him recently, then?’