Feeling uneasy, and a little bit guilty without really understanding why, Simon asked, “Do you know why Damon decided to move to the Culver Valley?”

“He was tired of London, I suppose,” Hannah said abruptly. “I’m not sure. Is this why you came, to ask me about Paula Riddiough?”

“It’s not the only reason. Why are you so reluctant to talk about Paula?”

Hannah said nothing. She stared at Simon as if it were his turn to speak and she were the one waiting.

“Why did you lie when I first asked if you’d had any appointments?” he asked.

“I didn’t lie. I . . . Look, Paula hated Damon and he hated her. I’d rather not think about her, discuss her, have her in this room. Can we change the subject, please?”

“You don’t want to discuss her with me, but you were happy to badmouth her with Damon?” said Simon. “How come?”

Hannah looked away.

“Something’s changed, hasn’t it? Today. When Paula came to see you—”

“Look, I don’t want to talk about Paula Riddiough, and I won’t talk about her,” said Hannah forcefully. “All right? If that’s the only topic you plan to cover, you can leave now. It wasn’t pleasant, being asked if I’d murdered Damon, in a tone that suggested she’d approve if I had.”

“I can understand that, but—”

“I can’t see why she’d care enough to insist on meeting me in person, but she did. I can’t think why Damon would make part of her name into his computer password, but he did. Now, do you have any questions for me that aren’t about Paula Riddiough?”

She cared enough to want to meet you in person because she was in love with your husband. And he was in love with her, hence his password based on her name. And you know it, don’t you? You’re doing everything you can to avoid acknowledging the truth, but you know.

After giving Hannah a few seconds to compose herself, Simon asked, “Does the name Nicki Clements mean anything to you?”

“No. Who is she?”

“A regular contributor to the comments threads beneath Damon’s columns online. It’s been suggested to us that she might have been obsessed with him. He never mentioned her name?”

“No,” said Hannah.

“I need to ask you something,” Simon said. “You’ll want to say no, but . . . I think it could be important. And I promise you, anything I see that’s not relevant to the investigation will go no further than me.”

“Hold on,” Hannah cut him off. “What are we talking about here?”

There was no point putting it off, though Simon was tempted. He hated asking questions to which he knew the answer would be no. “I’d like to look through your client files,” he said. “Do you make notes on what you talk to them about?”