Hiding behind the wall to the left of the entrance, Adrian listened to the conversation between Reece Corrigan and his wife. She was distraught and her words didn’t make any sense. Adrian wanted to make sure they were the only people here before entering the room.

He couldn’t hear anyone else, so he pushed himself away from the wall and stepped inside. The first thing he saw was a missing window: the whole side of the room facing out over the car park was exposed, yet to have the glass installed. The second thing he saw was the gun.

‘Angela, put the gun down,’ Adrian said as he approached, palms face out in the air, so she would know he wasn’t trying to hide anything from her.

As he moved forwards, he was wary of the gaping hole in the side of the room. He hated heights.

‘Just let me kill him. You can’t stop him; this is the only way to stop him. Why do you care if he dies?’ she said.

Her hands were shaking and he could see that the safety was off.

‘I really don’t care if he dies, but this isn’t about him, it’s about you. I think he’s taken enough from you. You shouldn’t go to prison for him. He’s not worth it.’

‘Just pull the trigger, Angela. You know it’s the only way to get away from me,’ Reece hissed.

‘Shut up, Corrigan,’ Adrian said.

‘She won’t hurt me; she’s got nothing without me and she knows it,’ Corrigan said.

Adrian could hear the tension in his voice this time.

‘Stand back, DS Miles,’ Angela shouted as Adrian got closer. ‘I’ll pull the trigger. I know how to use a gun … my daddy taught me,’ she sneered.

‘You deserve to have a life. If you pull that trigger, you’ll go to prison for a long time,’ Adrian said softly. ‘That’s what he wants: to own you for ever.’

‘Anything is better than this half-life I am living. I would be doing the world a favour.’

‘We can take care of him now. We found a body. That’s physical evidence.’

‘He twists things. You don’t know what he’s like.’

‘He knows exactly what I’m like,’ Corrigan said with a smile.

Was that an admission of complicity in Adrian’s assault? As much as Adrian wanted him to confess to what he had done, this wasn’t the time or the place for it. He studied Corrigan’s face for a moment. The smirk on it erased any final doubts he had about who was behind the attack in the van.