‘What the fuck was that about? I came to your rescue when you needed it.’

Tomek shook his head. ‘I’m not kissing no man on the lips.’

‘Coward,’ she hissed.

But before he could respond, something caught Tomek’s eye. A figure. Naked from the neck down, wearing nothing but a silicone donkey mask over his face. Bewildered, Tomek slapped Rachel on the arm repeatedly until he caught her attention.

‘You go,’ he said.

‘Why me?’

‘Because you’re a girl, and last time I checked, he’d been sleeping with Angelica, who was also a girl.’

‘Thanks for the biology lesson,’ she said in a huff, before setting her plastic cup (also presumably for safety reasons) on the arm of the sofa and making her way towards The Donkey Man. Meanwhile, Tomek followed slowly behind, hanging back and watching from afar, cautious not to get too close.

‘Hey,’ Rachel said.

The man looked down at her. ‘Hey, how you doing?’ he replied in a soft French accent.

‘Fancy going to a private room?’

‘Sure.’

It was that easy. Ask and you shall receive. No foreplay, no introductions, just, “Do you want to fuck?” “Yes!” “Excellent, come this way.”

‘Mind if my friend joins?’ she asked, pointing to Tomek.

‘Erm…’

‘Great.’

Without waiting for a response, Rachel grabbed Tomek by the arm, and dragged him out of the room and into the corridor. As they neared the individual rooms on the other side of the manor, the sound of sex grew louder and louder. Women and men screaming at the top of their lungs, bedheads and other items banging into the walls. Fortunately, they found an empty room at the end of the corridor, and Tomek shut the door behind him. Inside, the room was quiet, still. In the middle was a four-poster bed with a handful of sex toys – dildos, whips, stirrups, chains – laid out on the surface. Tomek didn’t want to know whether they’d been used or not, didn’t want to go anywhere near them. This was a simple hotel bedroom that had been turned into a sex dungeon, and he never wanted to stay in a hotel again.

Then The Donkey Man clapped his hands, bringing Tomek out of his reverie.

‘All righty then. Shall we?’

Rachel’s voice turned authoritative. ‘Actually, no. We’d rather not, thank you. We wondered if we could ask you a few questions about your recent relationship with Angelica Whitaker instead.’

‘What? What’re you talking about?’

‘Angelica Whitaker.’

‘Who are you?’

Rachel reached into her bra and produced her warrant card.

The man inspected it, then looked at Tomek in disbelief.

‘This isn’t just a costume, mate,’ Tomek said, waving vigorously.

Then The Donkey Man became suddenly aware that he was naked and covered himself with his hands. Though it was already too late. The damage had been done, the image – along with many others – was etched into Tomek’s mind. ‘What’s this about? Can I… can I put some clothes on?’

‘No need,’ Rachel said. ‘I’m not interested in any of that, nor is he. What’s your name?’

Still protecting his dignity with his hands, the man perched himself on the edge of the bed. ‘Florian. Florian Meunier. I…’

‘What can you tell us about Angelica Whitaker, Florian?’

The man reached for the nearest pillow and placed it on his lap. ‘I don’t know who that is.’

‘Yes, you do, but you probably know her more by her outfit than her name. A woman who used to come here always dressed as an angel. Ring any bells?’

A look of recognition flashed across Florian’s face. ‘Yes, but I… I did not know her name was Angelica.’

‘Well, now you do. And we’ve also come to tell you that she’s dead.’

‘Dead?’

‘Her body was found the other day. She was pregnant. We understand that you have slept with her on multiple occasions. Is that correct?’

Florian’s gaze fell to the shagpile carpet on the floor as he became lost in deep thought. ‘Yes. Yes, we slept together.’

‘Can you tell us how many times?’

‘Four. Maybe five.’

‘And you used the condoms outside? Some pierced, some not.’

‘Yes… Yes, but I never thought this would happen.’

‘Which bit? Her being killed or her getting pregnant?’ Rachel asked.

‘Killed? You never said she was killed. You don’t think… you don’t think I had something to do with it, do you?’

Tomek took that as his cue to step in. ‘That remains to be seen,’ he said. ‘So Angelica never told you that she was pregnant, or that it could have been yours?’

The man looked shell-shocked. ‘No. Nothing.’

‘Did you ever spend the night with anyone else? Did you ever see her go into a room with someone else?’

Florian shook his head. ‘Only ever me. But…’ He hesitated. ‘We also had a threesome once, but that… that was with another woman.’

Tomek’s eyes fell to the strap-on dildo at the head of the bed.

‘Have you ever spoken to Angelica outside of this environment?’ he asked.

‘No.’