She took a deep breath, counted to three and launched herself across the distance.

Kim kept her eyes on Alex the whole time. Although she couldn’t see her face, she could guess at the shocked expression. Good, that was all the distraction she needed.

Ten feet, five feet and bang – she sent Alex hurtling into the water.

Kim took a deep breath and dived right in after her.

SIXTY-EIGHT

Bryant faced Robin Parks across the table.

He wasn’t one for making snap judgements or even going with his gut. He left that to the boss. If Bryant didn’t like someone initially, he tried to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The man sat back in the chair, lifting the two front legs. His right foot rested on his left knee. He wore dark jeans and a V-neck sweater.

‘Mr Parks, thank you for agreeing to speak to me this evening.’

He opened his arms magnanimously. ‘Anything I can do to help.’

Bryant heard an underlying sneer but forced himself not to react.

‘Detective Inspector Stone and I recently spoke to you …’

‘Detective Inspector? Don’t you mean bulldog? She shouldn’t be allowed out without a muzzle.’

Bryant kicked his own ankle beneath the table. Oh, this was not going well.

‘We informed you that we had discovered that there was someone else in the room with your brother-in-law on at least one occasion.’

‘You might have mentioned it whilst terrorising my sister.’

He rocked to and fro on the chair.

‘Do you have any idea who that person could be, Mr Parks?’

‘Truthfully, I don’t think he exists. I think it’s a story your bulldog invented so she can continue to make Wendy’s life hell.’

‘And why would she do that, Mr Parks?’

Damn it, he’d bitten.

Robin Parks leaned forward. ‘Because she is a bitter, lonely woman that clearly wishes she’d been born a man and she’s taking out her every frustration on innocent people. That’s why.’

He returned to rocking back and forth, utterly pleased with himself.

‘That may be your opinion, Mr Parks,’ Bryant said, trying to keep his voice even.

‘Surely you have to agree. She is rude, obnoxious …’

‘And clearly memorable, as you haven’t stopped talking about her since I sat down.’

The rocking stopped but Bryant forged ahead.

‘Mr Parks, we have forensic evidence and a hair. And neither belong to Leonard.’

The front legs of the chair came in to land. ‘Really?’

Bryant nodded and then spoke for the tape. ‘Yes. As you know, Daisy has confirmed that she knew whoever was there. Is there anything you can offer to help?’

The mood in the room had changed.

‘I’ve been in that basement …’

‘If you’d like to offer us a sample, I can …’

‘Not a fucking chance. I’ve seen how you lot work. Your boss would have fitted my sister up if she’d been given half the chance.’

Robin Parks pushed back his chair and stood.

‘I believe I am here of my own volition?’

Bryant nodded his head. He didn’t bother to confirm it.

‘I see how this is going, so I shall take my leave now.’

Bryant stood.

‘Mr Parks, please. It’s your nieces we’re talking about here. I know how much you love your sister but please remember she’s not the victim. Don’t let your anger at my boss get in the way of our investigation.’

Bryant was shocked to see the man’s eyes were filled with rage. ‘Don’t you get it? I have to be angry at someone. This is my family and I love those girls like they were my own. I would give my life to protect either one of them. I have struggled to believe that I didn’t spot what my bastard brother-in-law was up to but I categorically refuse to believe there was someone else. I would have known.’

‘Mr Parks, I understand …’

‘The hell you do,’ he spat, before storming out of the room.

Bryant fell back into the chair. ‘Was Parks really letting his ego get in the way of the investigation? He couldn’t accept that he had not seen the abuse of his own nieces but was no longer able to argue in the face of the evidence. But to have missed the involvement of someone else? Or was his refusal to acknowledge the possibility due to a more sinister reason entirely.

It was time to speak to the boss.

SIXTY-NINE

The water hit Kim’s face like an ice sheet.

She felt her left hand collide with a limb on the way in, but she wasn’t sure whose it was.

To the left she could hear spluttering and movement. To the right she could feel much slower, less frenzied activity but she couldn’t see a thing.

Kim took a chance; kicked out to the left and swam to the right.

She was rewarded with a shriek of pain from Alex. She’d suspected the weaker movement somewhere on her right was coming from Dougie, already fatigued.

The canal water moved in all directions around her. Kim took a second to get her bearings and worked from where the torch had been dropped. She swam across the space widthways.

Come on Dougie, where are you?

Her foot became entangled in metal and helplessly she tried to kick it free. It felt like a spider’s web around her ankle. She reached into the water and dislodged her leg from the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

On her third trip, she swam into the form of Dougie, barely afloat. His arms still patted the water in a doggy-style movement but his head was bobbing underneath. He made no sound at all.

She reached and grabbed Dougie at the neck, hoisting his body up so that his face was out of the water and he coughed and spluttered the water from his mouth. But instead of relaxing into her, Kim’s touch seemed to galvanise him into action, giving him an extra bit of fight. And he was fighting her for his life. Great, he thought she was Alex.

‘Dougie, it’s me, Kim,’ she said.

She raised her left hand from the water and laid it gently on his cheek while her legs worked furiously to keep her afloat. She had to let him know he was safe.

She could feel the exhaustion taking over his body.

‘It’s okay, Dougie, just go limp. Don’t fight me.’

On cue, he relaxed his body completely and Kim silently thanked him for his trust.

She placed her right hand under his chin and turned on her back. Her legs worked like a steamer beneath the water. Her only source of energy to get them both to safety.

The top of her head banged against the side wall of the canal.

She manoeuvred their position so they were moving alongside the wall. She dragged Dougie with her right hand and guided with her left.

She knew these locks had ladders, but God only knew where they were.

A couple more strokes and her hand hit a metal stanchion. Finally. She grabbed on but before she could pull Dougie in, she felt something against her cheek. Too slowly, she realised it was leather and then she felt the full force of the heel stamp down on her head. The pain blurred her vision for a split second before she realised what it meant. Shit, Alex was above her. She was climbing the ladder out.

Kim could not allow the woman to get away.

‘Dougie, paddle,’ she screamed, momentarily letting him go.

She twisted her body and reached upwards. Her left hand clamped around a stockinged ankle trying to make its escape.

Kim closed her fingers around it and yanked it down.

She heard Alex gasp and although she hadn’t dislodged her from the ladder completely, she was down a few rungs.

The metal edge of the ladder pressed against Kim’s cheek.

She reached out for Dougie and, managing to capture his hood, held onto the stanchion and pulled him towards her. Every muscle in her body burned.

‘Climb the ladder once I’m gone but don’t get out, understand?’