‘Kind of, I guess, but it was more of a friendship. I don’t have many friends; I’m not allowed. He was one of Reece’s favourites and so he used to spend a lot of time here. He has a few favourites, for a while, at least. We became friends in secret. It never went any further than that. I wasn’t sleeping with him.’

‘You had feelings for him?’ Adrian said.

‘I think so. I don’t know. I was too scared to have feelings for him.’

‘Did he know that your husband was hurting you?’ Imogen asked.

‘At first, no. Everyone loves Reece. Believe it or not, he can be quite the charmer when he wants to be. Reece’—she spat his name—‘is really good at making people like him, until they see who he really is. Usually, if that happens, if he lets you see who he really is, then you need to be scared.’

‘So, what happened to Simon?’ Adrian said.

‘He was helping me to leave. New name, new passports and tickets to Canada. I thought I was finally going to be free thanks to Simon – and now he’s dead.’

‘Are you saying your husband killed him?’ Adrian said. Imogen shot him a look; he shouldn’t be putting words in her mouth.

‘I’m saying it’s not safe for you here. If he thinks you are trying to help me to leave, then he will stop you. Somehow, he will stop you. I have to be here. I can handle it.’

‘Do you love him?’ Imogen said.

‘It’s complicated.’

‘Why is it complicated?’

‘I guess I’m just fucked up. You shouldn’t waste your time trying to help me. After what happened to Simon, I am not pulling anyone else into this. You both seem like good people. You should leave.’

‘What about Simon? Doesn’t he deserve justice?’ Imogen said.

‘You won’t get any justice here, just more pain,’ she said, swigging the last of her drink.

Imogen watched her face. This coldness wasn’t an act. She wasn’t pretending. She was broken. For someone so young to be so completely resigned to this fate was incomprehensible to Imogen. Angela knew what the man she was living with was capable of, they knew what he was capable of, but they were powerless to stop him without her testimony.

‘Is there anything you can tell us that would help in our investigation into Simon Glover’s death? If you know what happened to him then you need to tell us. We should bring you in for questioning anyway. Just tell us what he did. How did you end up in the river?’ Imogen said.

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Are you just going to wait until he succeeds and kills you?’ Adrian said.