Rose donned a pair of gloves, inserted a key into the top of the cabinet, and fished inside for the bracelet. Then she placed it on a small plush cushion.

‘Now, before we go any further, do I get mates’ rates, or a blue light discount at the very least?’

Rose’s cheeks warmed. ‘You can get one better than that. Because you cheered me up, I’ll give you family discount and knock fifty per cent off.’

Tomek was taken aback. ‘I couldn’t possibly… That’s too generous.’

She touched him on the arm playfully, though there was a sense of intent behind it. ‘Nonsense. Either you take it or I won’t sell it to you at all, and then your daughter will be left upset and disappointed.’

‘Guilt tripping… You’re quite the salesperson.’

‘It’s how I’ve learnt to get what I want.’ Rose moved towards the cash desk and began bagging the bracelet up. First came the small navy felt pouch, complete with Whitaker’s branding in silver foiling. Next was a “With Thanks” business card placed on top. Then she transported the two items onto a bed of straw paper and wrapped it twice, before eventually putting it into a branded paper bag. Tomek watched as she moved deftly and elegantly between each stage in the process.

‘You’ve done that before.’

‘This is only my second time. Business has been lean.’

Tomek smirked, then readied his debit card.

A few seconds later, she rang up the total, and he paid. Then she placed the receipt in the bag and left her hand there, waiting for him to reach out and touch it.

‘This wasn’t the only reason you came here, was it?’ she asked.

Tomek stuttered.

‘It’s about my husband, isn’t it?’

‘Have you spoken to him?’ Tomek reached out for the gift. Eventually she relented and let him have it.

‘Not since I kicked him out, no.’

‘Would you like to know where he is?’

‘Not particularly. So long as he’s still alive to sign the divorce papers, I don’t care where he is, what he’s doing, or how he’s doing. He’s been lying to me about all those things for long enough anyway, he should be able to handle it. By now, he’s a fucking expert.’

Tomek looked down at the floor. ‘He’s in hospital. We found him at The Prince Albert, near Roy and Daphne’s. Severely drunk. Almost thought we might have to pump his stomach. He didn’t have many nice things to say about you, mind, but I guess you don’t have any nice things to say about him either. Regardless, he’s in Broomfield if you fancied the journey.’

‘Fuck no. He can stay there for all I care because he certainly ain’t coming anywhere near here, the house, or the flat upstairs. Can you believe he tried to stay there after I kicked him out?’

‘I can,’ Tomek replied without meaning to sound condescending and sarcastic.

If she was offended by it, she didn’t show it. ‘I told him he could fuck off. My name’s on all the agreements. I have all the risk. They’re my properties. He’s allowed nowhere near them.’

Tomek was reminded of his conversation with Johnny Whitaker.

‘Has he ever been violent towards you?’

Rose shook her head.

‘Has he ever emotionally abused you?’

Another shake.

‘What about his dad, Roy? You ever seen any aggression out of that man?’

This time, Rose took longer to answer the question. She pondered on it, let the thoughts ruminate around her skull as she searched through the hard drive.

‘I mean, he’s never been physically violent towards me, a bit weird and aggressive sometimes, but I’ve only heard of one instance with him and Daphne. Johnny told me there was a time when they were on holiday and he hit her across the face while the kids were in the swimming pool. Johnny wasn’t sure if he’d seen it or not. All he saw was his mum holding her face. But he never said anything at the time. I think he was, like, ten, eleven, so probably didn’t know any better.’

Tomek shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

‘And that was the only time?’

She shrugged. ‘That he told me about. Doesn’t mean to say it didn’t happen when they weren’t there.’

Tomek cast his mind back to his visits to the Whitaker family home; whether he’d seen anything untoward. The dynamic between Roy and Daphne had switched multiple times. Sometimes Daphne was the one in charge, looking after Roy, and the next it was the other way round. There was no obvious power dynamic or threatening overtone that he’d been able to pick up on. Regardless, he made a mental note to follow up with Anna on it. She’d spent more time with the family; she may have seen or noticed something.

Just as Tomek was about to leave, Rose added, ‘He’s never been physical with me, but…’

Tomek gave her as much time as she needed to continue. This wasn’t the sort of thing that could be rushed.

‘He… he came on to me one time, which I thought was a bit weird.’ She inhaled deeply, as if preparing herself to relive the memory. ‘We were at a family wedding – some distant, second cousin-six-times-removed thing. I didn’t know anyone, and neither did Johnny, but he said he wanted to go because he loves weddings and they’re always a good excuse to have a good time and get as pissed as you want. This was back when he was going through the worst of his drinking problem.’

‘Daphne and Roy told me about that,’ Tomek interrupted. ‘Said that they’d sat him in front of God and got him off the drink cold turkey.’

Rose scoffed. ‘That’s what they wanted to believe, but it didn’t last long. Don’t get me wrong, Johnny was still drinking, but he wasn’t drinking as much. And whenever we went round his parents’ for a meal or event, he was just very good at hiding it and making sure he didn’t get caught – along with everything else, it would appear.’ Rose rolled her eyes and continued with her story. ‘Anyway, about two hours into this wedding, Johnny was already on the dance floor, dancing, talking to anyone and anything that would give him the time of day; I think I saw him talking to a plant at one point. But while Johnny was dancing, Roy came over to me, sat right beside me and put his arm round my back. At first I thought, all right, he’s come over to say something, but when he didn’t move it, I started to get a bit worried. Then he began stroking my arm, squeezing my shoulder. I felt super uncomfortable, and like I couldn’t call out for help. No one else was nearby to come and rescue me: Angelica and Daphne were on the dance floor as well, swinging around with each other. And then he leant into my ear and grunted.’

‘Grunted?’

‘Yeah. Like a sexual grunt type of thing.’

‘Did he say anything?’

She nodded.

‘Yeah. He called me an angel for looking after Johnny the way I had been, and then left. I mean, he was pretty drunk as well, but… I dunno, it just felt weird, you know?’

‘Yeah,’ Tomek said. ‘I know.’

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

He had no idea what was on the television. Some crap that he’d let Kasia put on because she had a load of homework to do on her laptop, she’d told him, and apparently she couldn’t focus unless she had something on in the background. Her teenage mind didn’t like the silence, and her attention span had become so poor from the constant barrage of dopamine coming from her phone that she couldn’t focus on any one thing for longer than a few minutes, which meant Tomek was forced to endure it as well.

He had tried to keep himself busy with errands and tasks, but his mind and body were knackered. His legs ached from the run and his head hurt from the information Rose had given him. As he sat there, staring at the television screen, he’d tossed around thoughts of Johnny and Rose Whitaker in his mind. Of the pool, of the wedding ceremony. Of Roy Whitaker, the esteemed and highly decorated pilot, assaulting one woman and crossing the line with another.

‘Dad, can I have a glass of Coke, please?’

Kasia was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, her laptop resting on her knees. Dangling from her wrist was the new bracelet she’d thanked Tomek for a hundred times. It jangled every time she moved her wrist, clattering into the side of the laptop, making Tomek immediately regret buying it.