While she stared into the darkness of her eyelids, time almost seemed to hang still but her feeling of terror was interrupted by the doorbell sounding. Jessica opened her eyes and looked up at Edward. He was on his knees in front of her and had stopped to pull his trousers back up. ‘Bollocks. That had better not be the pool people, I told them Thursday,’ he said breezily.

His tone of voice, as if they were old friends and this was the most normal thing in the world, would have been funny if it wasn’t so terrifying. He stood, refastening his trousers as the doorbell sounded again. ‘I should have told you how pleased I was you liked my art, by the way,’ he said. ‘I wanted to tell you it was mine of course but it would have given everything away. Anyway, be right back.’

As he left the room, Jessica saw a flicker of movement from her left by one of the plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling. They were clear but translucent but she thought she could see a glimpse of something red. Emerging slowly from behind one was DC Diamond. ‘Are you okay?’ she whispered loudly. Jessica wanted to say she wasn’t but couldn’t move.

The constable stepped closer, glancing from side to side before fully emerging into the room. She had climbed through the space where the window should go. ‘We were waiting at the bottom of the drive like you said but, when no one came out, we thought we’d see what was going on. Are you all right?’

Still looking towards the open doorway, Izzy moved quickly towards Jessica, stopping to look at the knife on the floor and then picking it up. She leant in towards her. ‘Jess?’

She must have realised to some degree what was going on because she reeled back. ‘Oh God, Jess. Can you speak?’

Jessica tried to say something and really pushed to move her arm but nothing happened. She could hear faint voices from the hallway. Izzy’s eyes widened. ‘It’s Dave out there.’ The constable stood quickly, knife still in her hand and left the room. Jessica closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing.

Jessica took a deep breath and leant back into the seat before downing the rest of her pint. She only drank lager on special occasions but would have probably enjoyed whatever was put in front of her at that exact moment.

‘Get ’em in then, Dave,’ she said, looking to the constable next to her.

‘Isn’t it your round?’ Rowlands asked.

‘Yeah, but I’m still a patient.’

He laughed, before turning to Izzy. ‘Whatever. Do you want the same?’

‘Yeah, but make it a double.’ Dave slid out from the booth in the pub closest to the police station and headed towards the bar. The atmosphere was relatively upbeat and Jessica was trying her best to join in with her friends, even though she had kept so many of the details surrounding what had happened in Edward Marks’s house to herself.

It had been a week since the man had been arrested. Between the two constables, Edward had been subdued. Jessica didn’t know the entire story as she had first spent time in hospital, then at home. The pub visit was the first time she had gone anywhere near the station. Her doctor had signed her off work for a fortnight but she had avoided all calls from anyone at the station except from Izzy and Dave. It was partly because she didn’t want sympathy from any of them but also because she felt embarrassed at charging into a situation almost on her own. By taking the two constables with her, it showed she had learned her lesson from two years ago when Randall Anderson had almost choked her to death. Jessica was still aware she had been just moments away from something awful happening.

It was largely that which kept her away from the station. She had tried to block out the look in Edward’s eyes but it was constantly in the back of her mind. Jessica had not said a word about it to anyone and, although it was obvious she had been drugged, no one knew the extent of what had almost gone on – and she had no intention of telling them.

‘Are you okay?’ Izzy asked.

Jessica tried to speak with a confidence she wasn’t feeling. ‘Yes, I was a bit unsteady for the first couple of days. The doctor said the dosage of the drug Edward injected into me could send some people into shock or cause permanent damage. I feel all right but I’ve got more tests tomorrow.’ She looked at the empty glasses on the table. ‘I probably should have stayed off the booze.’

‘Are you back at work the week after next, then?’

‘I don’t know.’

Something in Jessica’s tone must have not sounded quite right because Izzy followed it up, more quietly the second time around. ‘Are you ever coming back?’

Jessica looked up from the table to meet her colleague’s eyes, feeling vulnerable. She looked away before replying. ‘I don’t know.’

The constable sighed almost involuntarily. ‘Oh God, Jess. I’m so sorry. I know we should have come in quicker. What happened?’

Jessica spoke firmly. ‘Nothing.’

Izzy didn’t look as if she believed her, tilting her head sideways, her long red hair hanging around her shoulders.

The mood was interrupted by Rowlands returning with their drinks. He was using both hands to push all three glasses into one another so they didn’t drop and slowly manoeuvred them onto the table. He must have sensed a slight tension. ‘Everyone okay?’

‘Fine,’ Jessica said before Izzy could speak.

The constable nodded. ‘Good, good. So, we make a pretty good team all in all then.’

Jessica put her arm around Diamond’s shoulder. ‘Well, we do. I don’t know where you come into it.’

‘Hey, I was the one who arrested Edward Marks,’ Dave protested.

Izzy nodded. ‘Only because I’d taken him by surprise.’

‘Exactly. That’s what I mean by teamwork.’

Jessica wanted to change the subject away from what had happened. ‘Fine, we make a good team. So tell me, what’s going on with everyone’s favourite MP?’ The two constables exchanged glances. ‘Come on,’ Jessica added. ‘I know you’re not supposed to know but I’m not going to tell.’

Rowlands lowered his voice. ‘The DCI and DI are keeping it all pretty quiet but, from what everyone says, they’ve got nothing on him except hearsay. The garage owner reckons he took cash to kidnap Christine Johnson but none of it can be matched back to the MP. The phone calls and texts the mechanic has records of are only to an unregistered pre-pay mobile number they’ve not been able to tie to Johnson either. There are all sorts of circumstantial bits and pieces but people are saying the only one going down for it is the bloke who owned the garage. It looks like he did it, of course, but everyone thinks it was Johnson who paid him.’

‘Have they got any sort of motive?’ Jessica asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Dave said. ‘George Johnson’s rich enough anyway and there’s no life insurance, so it’s not that. Apparently he was having an affair, even if he denies it, but he knows we’ve got nothing on him and so does his solicitor. Jason is furious but what can you do? Someone leaked it to the media saying we’d taken him in for questioning. People are saying it was the DCI himself who leaked. I think they’re hoping someone else comes forward with information but no one’s holding their breath.’ The constable paused to have a sip from his glass before continuing. ‘The garage owner should be convicted, which is a result because he’s basically confessed to the actual crime. He’s not the one they’re after though.’

Jessica nodded, thinking it sounded about right. She took a large slurp of her drink before Rowlands continued. ‘I take it you know what’s going on with Edward even though you’ve not been in?’

There was a short pause. Jessica had listened to a few voicemails and gone through some emails via her phone. She had also given a statement about everything Edward had told her. ‘I’ve heard bits,’ she said.

‘Do you know they found the remains of the five men in the foundations of the pool area?’