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He drove the child to school, then travelled home via the cinema complex at Connell retail park. Roadblocks had been hastily erected and diversion signs were being put in place.

They had found her body.

He quickly ticked through the checklist in his head to ensure he hadn’t left anything of himself to lead the guards to his door. If he had, he might as well be dead himself. He’d smashed up her phone with a hammer from the boot and thrown it out the window on the dual carriageway. He’d ripped her coat and bag with the knife and scattered them along with her shoes in the ditches on his way home. He’d done well.

It had taken him until the early hours to wash out the car and be sure there wasn’t a spot of blood left anywhere. Of course it wasn’t scientifically cleaned, but if he was ever to become a suspect, there was other evidence to convict him besides her having been in his car. And wouldn’t he have a legit reason to have her in the taxi? He wondered about CCTV. No, he was certain he had avoided it all.

He zapped open the ten-foot-high solid gate and parked carefully in his designated space, then walked slowly around the side of the house, hugging the concrete wall that surrounded it on all four sides. He entered through the back door with his key, having taken off his shoes outside. No point in adding to the tirade that would surely follow. Because her car was still out front, he knew she hadn’t yet left for work.

‘I can’t believe you fucked it up,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘Don’t act stupid with me. I heard it on the Midlands radio news. A body. You stupid, stupid man.’

He pulled a chair to the table and sat. The aroma of coffee from the pot tickled his nose and the tang of fresh toast lingered in the air. His stomach rumbled, but otherwise he remained silent. He’d learned the hard way that it was best to let her rant and rave; to burn herself out. Everything would be okay in a little while. He only had to wait.

‘I specifically asked you to bring her here. What went wrong? And don’t dare tell me she attacked you. I’ve heard that one before.’

A shrug of his shoulders elicited a smack of a tea towel across the back of his neck.

‘You’re such an idiot. The guards and that CSI crowd will be crawling all over Ragmullin. I wanted her. She was part of my plan. How am I going to get the next one and get rid of the other one now? Answer me that, genius.’

‘I-I d-don’t know. I’m s-sorry.’

‘You bloody well should be. I’m always left to tidy up after your mistakes. I really don’t know why I keep you here with me. You know what?’ She put up her hand to stop him replying. ‘You’re a waste of space.’

He watched as she flounced around the kitchen swiping the cloth at the counter, the cupboards, the refrigerator, the oven. At all the inanimate objects that were unable to fight back. And he knew she regarded him as no higher than those objects.

Waiting for her to attack him used to be more terrifying than when she actually pounced. The fearful anticipation had once made him wet his trousers. Big mistake. Now, though, he was more in control of his emotions, his words and of course his bladder. He knew what was coming, so he could distance himself, place himself on a higher plane and watch the man below him getting battered. It had taken years of practice, but he felt he’d eventually mastered it.

She circled, and circled. Stopped behind him. He took a deep breath in case she punched him in the ribs. She’d once broken one and wouldn’t allow him to go to the hospital. But this time her fist came down on his shoulder, taking him by surprise, and he yelled. So much for the higher plane.

‘Get out of my sight.’ Her voice whistled, piercing the air around his head.

He resisted rubbing his shoulder. Not that rubbing it would do any good. It would take hours for the pain to subside. He was hungry and would have loved to grab a coffee. But he knew better than to delay. Scuttling out the back door, he put on his shoes and walked to his shed at the bottom of the walled garden, where he’d stay until she calmed down. Until she allowed him back inside.