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England and the States. And he’s got a private yacht that makes the Queen Elizabeth look like a rowing boat.’
    Hadley drank some tea then nodded towards the handbag that Jess had left lying on the table top.
    ‘Can I have a look at the pictures you took while you were inside?’ he asked.
    She nodded and reached inside for the SD790 handing it to Hadley who began scrolling through the shots before him on the small screen. He eyed the shots of the crimson mess on the stretcher indifferently.
    ‘I wonder what happened?’ he mused.
    Jess could only shrug.
    ‘We won’t know for sure until they release some kind of statement or the name of the poor sods that died,’ she offered.
    ‘You could check the nearest hospital to here, see what they say.’
    ‘Pretend to be a relative you mean.’
    ‘You wouldn’t be the first.’
    ‘I couldn’t do that unless I had the names of the men who were killed could I?’ she reminded him.
    Hadley nodded and drained what was left in his mug then pointed at Jess’s half-drunk beverage.
    ‘Want another one?’ he enquired.
    ‘No thanks,’ she said. ‘I’d better go home.’
    ‘Someone waiting for you?’
    She shook her head.
    ‘No, it’s just little old me,’ she told him.
    ‘What is wrong with the male population of this city? You should be married by now. Up to your ears in screaming kids and shitty nappies.’
    ‘Like you?’
    Hadley raised his eyebrows.
    There was a long silence between them and then Jess broke it, leaning forward slightly.
    ‘Do you ever hear from your ex?’ she asked. ‘The first one or the second one.’ She smiled.
    ‘No.’ He said it sharply and with an air of finality. ‘I don’t want to either.’
    ‘How long has it been now?’
    ‘We didn’t come in here to talk about my fucking ex did we? Either of them.’
    ‘Three years since your last divorce, isn’t it?’
    ‘What did I just say?’ he challenged. ‘Drop it will you, Jess.’
    ‘I was only asking.’
    ‘And what happened to that guy you were in love with? What was his name? Jason or something wasn’t it?’
    Jess got to her feet.
    ‘I really have got to go,’ she said, reaching for her handbag. ‘Thanks for the tea and sympathy, Alex. I’ll see you around.’
    ‘I didn’t mean to upset you,’ he said, flatly.
    ‘You didn’t. I just have to go. Things to do, you know.’
    He looked at her evenly for a moment as she pulled her handbag onto her shoulder and looked back at him with something like sadness in her eyes. The moment passed.
    ‘You’ve got my mobile number, haven’t you?’ he enquired.
    She nodded.
    ‘In case you want anything,’ he added. ‘Any help.’
    ‘And you’d better go and get your milk...” Jess told him.
    ‘Somewhere will be open, even at this time of night,’ he said as she turned. ‘Somewhere always is. They cater for people like me who want things.’
    ‘And what do you want besides milk, Alex?’ Jess said, heading towards the café exit.
    ‘I want my fucking life back,’ he said, quietly. ‘But that’s never going to happen is it?’
    She was gone by the time he looked up again.

ELEVEN
     
    Despite the fact that it was late by the time Jess got home she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. The journey to the Crystal Tower and the meeting with Hadley had set her adrenalin flowing and she knew that going to bed as soon as she got through the front door would be a futile exercise.
    She hadn’t been sleeping too well for the last couple of weeks as it was so, as she let herself in to her small flat just off Clerkenwell Road, she decided it would be more sensible to simply sit up watching TV or reading until she felt drowsy enough to retreat to the bedroom.
    She slipped off her coat and hung it on the rack just inside the door before ducking into the small living room where she flicked on the TV and found Sky News. While the newsreader droned on in the background, Jess put some milk in a mug and stuck it in the microwave.