‘I never said they bloody weren’t.’

‘Then what are they doing on top of the bed? A bed you were supposed to have been sleeping soundly in all night? A nice tidy girl like you wouldn’t have left them on the bed before going to sleep – she’d have chucked them on the floor.’

Sadie spun round to Skinner. ‘Do you know what the sod’s on about?’

Skinner hadn’t the faintest idea, but before he could ask, Frost was off on another tack. ‘Did the bastard steal your hearing aid, Sadie?’

‘Hearing aid?’ she shrilled. ‘What hearing aid? What would I want a hearing aid for?’

‘Well, you must be bloody deaf if you slept through all that crockery crashing down on the floor.’

‘I’m a heavy sleeper. I get so worn out looking after the baby, I sleep like a log the minute my head hits the pillow.’

‘Ah,’ nodded Frost. ‘I thought there’d be a logical explanation. And what time did your head hit the pillow last night, Sadie?’

‘I already have that information,’ intervened Skinner, who saw himself getting elbowed out of the investigation. But he was puzzled. He wanted to ask his own questions. The woman was now telling Frost she was a heavy sleeper, yet she had told him that the slightest noise woke her. He checked his notes. ‘Just after ten.’

Frost ignored him, his eyes riveted on the woman. ‘Come off it, Sadie. At ten o’clock you were still in the bloody pub being bought gin and limes by some short-sighted git who thought he was on to a good thing.’

Her eyes blazed. ‘How bleeding dare you!’

‘I bleeding dare because I know, Sadie. I’m not flaming guessing, I know!’

Her eyes spat hatred. ‘All right. So I might have popped out for a quick drink. Where’s the harm in that? I slave for that kid. I’m entitled to a bit of relaxation. A quick drink, then I came straight back. I was in bed by half ten.’