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street. Opposite Colin and Michelle’s house were a couple of shops with flats above them. Was he hiding in one of them, watching him right now? But Celo had mentioned the handwriting on the note exactly as if he had heard what The Sheriff and him had discussed. Perhaps the house was bugged?
    Peter started to frantically search for something that would confirm this, lifting magazines, looking inside lightshades, checking under the sofa and the armchairs. He found nothing.
    ‘This is useless.’
    He didn’t really know what he was looking for. What did a bug look like? And even if he did find a bug, what would that tell him? Nothing he didn’t already know. He sat down on the floor, rubbing his fingers through his scalp, exhaling loudly to try and calm the feeling of nausea in his stomach. Who would have access to bugging equipment? The first answer to his own question was the very people he wanted to call right now.
    ‘The police.’
    Then he closed his mouth suddenly in realisation that if the house was bugged Celo could hear him right now. Peter stood up. He started shuffling on the spot with nervous energy, as if this would make him think more clearly. The police have bugging equipment, he thought. Colin might have access to bugging equipment from the station. And then he stopped suddenly on the spot. What if it was The Sheriff? Would he really come round to check on two grown-ups? Even if they were family? But then, why would he be doing this? What would he have against his own son-in-law? Except for thinking he was a ‘stupid lazy bastard’ not good enough for his daughter. And why would he involve his daughter in this? What could he have against the members of the Excellent Eight? His mind flicked back to The Sheriff’s reaction when he had mentioned Steve coming back to the house. He had seemed surprised by that. He’d then phoned Steve. Why would The Sheriff have Steve’s mobile number? His finger hovered over the 9 button to dial 999. He hesitated. Something was bugging him about The Sheriff’s reaction to Steve coming back to the house.
    He remembered a conversation last night when Cas had asked him whether he’d noticed anything strange going on between Steve and Michelle. Peter hadn’t noticed anything untoward and hadn’t realised what Cas was suggesting at the time but the question had led him to watch the pair more closely. He’d then noticed that they didn’t speak to each other directly all night; as if they were avoiding each other. But he had also caught them looking at each other when they thought other people’s attention was elsewhere. Something must have happened between Steve and Michelle. He had no idea when they had slept together, or whether they were still sleeping together or whether Colin knew about it. Whenever Peter caught Steve and Michelle looking at each other, he would look straight away to Colin but he didn’t seem aware of anything and kept himself engrossed in conversation with the others. A sickening thought entered his mind. He recalled a conversation between the group when they had all returned to Colin and Michelle’s house. The conversation had turned onto the topic of babies. He and Laura had dispensed their wisdom and advice based on their own parenting experiences. They had also simultaneously confirmed the common mantra, as a light-hearted warning, that Colin and Michelle’s life would never be the same once the baby was born. Peter recalled that Colin had proudly patted his wife’s stomach with a wide smile.
    ‘I don’t care, I’ll just be glad when she’s here. We’ve wanted a baby so long. We’d almost given up an d then boom, it just happened.’
    Peter recalled the smile on Michelle’s face. It had not been a beaming grin of pride. He ’d initially thought it was a shy smile at the fact that Colin had been rather upfront and given slightly too much detail about their obvious struggles to have a child. Now he realised he might have misinterpreted