At the top of the stairs is a small room, with a corridor branching off containing four identical doors. The walls have been painted a brilliant white and reflect the fluorescent pink strip lights. A makeshift desk serves as a reception area and laminated posters on the wall advertise the services available here, as well as the prices.

‘Is anyone else here?’ I ask.

The woman shakes her head. She has closely cropped dark hair and is wearing a short satin dressing gown, which exposes thin legs. She opens a door and leads us into a room with a table and chairs, a clothes stand with an array of outfits and an open chest containing a mixture of wigs, in all styles and colours. I figure that this is the reason why her hair has been cut so short – to allow her to become whoever a customer wants her to be. We sit down on a chair and I put the photograph on the table.

‘So you know this man?’ Liam says.

She nods. Liam rotates his hand, trying to elicit a more comprehensive answer.

‘Harry. Came here a lot of nights.’

I struggle to place the accent.

‘For a massage?’ Liam ventures.

‘First night, sex. He try but he can’t. Too sad. He say bad thing happen to him and he do bad thing too. He not want massage. He still pay.’

‘You said on the first night, he paid you to have sex with him, but he couldn’t do it. Did he come back again?’ I ask.

She nods her head.

‘For sex?’

‘No,’ she shakes her head. ‘For friends. He nice man. He say he do bad thing but I don’t think yes. Wife died. He wants friends. Spend a lot of time here.’

‘Do you think he will be here tonight?’ I enquire.

‘No,’ she says, sadly. ‘My boyfriend. Suspicious. He come last night. Harry too. He think Harry more than customer. My boyfriend angry. He threaten Harry with knife. Harry run.’

Liam and I look at each other. So Rory spent a number of evenings here, under a different identity, and seemingly paid for her time to just sit with him. Now he’s been scared off with a knife, I wonder where he will go next.

‘This man, I say, pointing at the picture, ‘is called Rory, not Harry. We think he might be dangerous. Did he ever try to hurt you?’

She shakes her head.

‘Did he say what the bad thing was?’ Liam asks.

She repeats the action with her head.

I give her one of my cards, explaining to her that if he does come back here, she should phone me straight away. She nods and I think she understands the severity of the situation. We leave the room and walk to the desk where she presses a button, and in the distance, I can hear the shutters moving. Before we leave, she gives us a leaflet with information about the business. A photograph of her with the name Luna underneath is included on the back, next to a selection of other women. We bid her goodbye and leave the parlour with some answers and more questions.