Jessica didn’t know if he was genuinely trying to impress her, or if he couldn’t stop himself from boasting. Four hundred quid? She could have boiled some vinegar and it would have tasted the same. She was definitely in the wrong business. ‘It tastes the same as any other whisky I’ve ever had.’

Nicholas downed his drink in one and refilled it. ‘There’s no accounting for taste.’ He pointed towards her glass and, against her better judgement, Jessica nodded, watching as he poured another triple into it.

‘So why are you here, Ms Daniel?’

Jessica felt unnerved that he had remembered her name, although not entirely surprised. ‘I want to have the same chat as before.’

Nicholas put down the bottle and pulled a stool towards him, flopping onto it and wriggling uncomfortably, like an overweight frog. Even over the bar, Jessica could see he was far too big for it.

‘I thought I’d told you that I didn’t know anything about the two women you mentioned. I’ve employed a lot of people.’

Jessica picked up her glass and took another sip. ‘But you remember the women, don’t you?’

Nicholas grinned, almost seeming pleased that she thought that. ‘Who says that?’

‘I do.’

He nodded, still shifting on the stool. ‘I don’t think you’re as clever as you think you are.’

Jessica had another drink. Each time the liquid dribbled down her throat, it felt a little less harsh, to the point that she didn’t even have to stifle pulling a face. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all? ‘Why don’t you tell me about Kayleigh and Ellie?’

Nicholas raised himself, finally giving up on balancing his enormous backside on the stool and instead leaning on the bar. ‘How about you tell me about yourself first?’

Jessica shook her head but he pointed towards her ring finger. ‘Who’s the lucky man?’

Suddenly feeling vulnerable, she downed the rest of the drink, swilling the liquid around in her mouth and using the glass to mask her face. She returned it to the counter with a bang and nodded towards the bottle. ‘No one you’d know.’

Nicholas poured her another generous measure, before refilling his own glass. ‘Aah, but I know all men.’

‘Really?’

He put down the bottle and used both hands to point around the room. ‘Who do you think pays for all of this – and everything else? You should never trust a man.’

Jessica thought of what had been happening with Adam recently, wondering why she hadn’t been able to pick up his phone and have a look when she had the chance. She stayed calm, enjoying the gentle burning at the back of her throat.

‘Is that right . . . ?’

‘While you’re working late doing whatever it is you do, he’s probably in here drinking my drink and touching up my women.’

‘Your women?’

Nicholas grinned and nodded. ‘My women.’

Jessica could hear the menace in his voice and knew that was exactly how he thought of the females who worked for him. ‘Were Ellie and Kayleigh your women?’

For a moment, she thought she saw his eyebrow twitch, as it had done the previous time they had met, but he reached forward and picked up his glass, taking another large mouthful. Jessica copied him, holding the dark liquid in her mouth and feeling the fumes drifting through her.

She was already light-headed.

Nicholas met her eyes. ‘They were good-looking when they were young.’

‘What else?’

Nicholas still refused to look away. ‘Nothing, that’s all I remember.’ He lifted the bottle again, daring her to accept.

Jessica picked up her glass and downed what was left, putting it back on the bar and nodding. Nicholas poured until the bottle was almost empty, tipping the rest into his own glass, before turning and throwing it into a large plastic container at the end of the bar. Four hundred quid gone, just like that.

‘I want to see your employment records,’ Jessica said.

Nicholas laughed. ‘Do you now?’

‘Yes.’

He nodded, as if weighing up the request, although she knew he would refuse. Jessica was fighting to keep her eyes level, knowing the alcohol was hitting her hard. She rarely drank spirits, let alone so quickly. Her eyelids had felt tired before she had come and now they were even heavier.

‘You’re not going anywhere near my files.’

‘What if I already have a warrant?’

For the first time since he had begun drinking, Nicholas faltered. A small amount of whisky sloshed onto the counter as he wobbled, clumsily putting down his glass. ‘Why would you have one of those?’

‘How about if I told you one of those women had died?’

Jessica couldn’t tell if she was giving him new information as there was a grey haze around her eyes that stopped her from completely taking in his reaction. He didn’t seem particularly surprised.

Before he could reply, Jessica noticed a dribble of blood run from his nostril across his bottom lip. Nicholas quickly reached up to touch his face, recoiling as he saw the blood on his hands. ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, not again,’ he slurred, turning and picking up a napkin from the back counter of the bar.

He dabbed at his face before balling up the tissue and tossing it in a nearby bin. He touched his nostril a few times to ensure it had stopped and then turned back to Jessica.

‘What was that?’ she asked.

‘Nothing. I get them, it’s fine.’ He licked the tip of his finger, where a small amount of blood had dried, then wiped it on his trousers.

Jessica wanted to stand to assert some degree of authority as Nicholas was faltering but her head didn’t feel clear enough to attempt to get up. Instead she tried to focus on the label of a bottle hanging behind the bar. She forced her eyes to concentrate but was struggling to figure out what was wrong, before realising it was hanging upside down in the optics. The fact she hadn’t noticed that in the first place was worrying in itself but Jessica couldn’t stop herself giggling slightly.

Nicholas stared at her, clearly thinking she was laughing at him. ‘I don’t believe you’ve got a warrant or anything else,’ he said.

‘What would you bet on that? Imagine what else they might find. Or you could just tell me what I want to know.’

Jessica couldn’t tell if she was slurring her words. To her they sounded fine, but she had enough sense to know she was already more drunk than she had been in a very long time. She picked up the half-full glass and could see Nicholas staring at it, daring her to finish what was left, probably thirty quid’s worth.

‘Feisty,’ he said with a smile, although Jessica could tell the alcohol had hit him too as his eyes were flickering off to one side and lacking focus.

Jessica drank half of what was in the glass and then stared into the remaining brown liquid, her head spinning. She hadn’t expected this.

‘They both quit at the same time,’ Nicholas said suddenly. He was trying to force himself back onto the stool he had previously given up on and looked as if he could collapse to the floor at any moment. Eventually he abandoned the idea, leaning against a sink at the back of the bar. ‘I checked my files and they both left together.’

‘On the same day?’

Nicholas shrugged. ‘I suppose.’

Jessica knew they had left at roughly the same time but this was the first she’d heard about them going together as neither Eleanor nor Kayleigh had volunteered that. She wondered if they had been deliberately evasive and, if so, whether that had somehow cost Kayleigh her life.

‘Do you remember them?’

‘I always remember the pretty ones.’

Nicholas was slurring his words further. Instead of sounding sinister, it was pathetic. Jessica felt a rush of confidence. ‘What do you know about them now?’

He shook his head dismissively. ‘Nothing, the minute they walk, they’re dead to me.’

An unfortunate choice of words, Jessica thought. ‘Why did they leave at the same time?’