‘My fiancée was murdered a few days ago,’ he says, ‘did you think you were going to catch me at a good time? Have you found who killed her yet?’

‘Not yet,’ I confess. ‘Are you still in Manchester?’ I ask, and when there is no reply, I check the phone’s screen to find that the call has been disconnected.

Without a word to Liam, I use the internet to search for the company Rory works for in London. I find it and call, pressing the phone to my ear. A receptionist with a high-pitched, grating voice greets me with the well-known company’s name, followed by her own. I ask to speak to Rory but I’m told he is on compassionate leave and probably won’t be in the office for at least another two weeks, though if I would like to speak to a colleague, she’d be more than happy to put me through. I tell her that my query can wait, thank her and hang up.

I recount the phone conversations to Liam and we discuss the possible reasons as to why Rory is still hanging about the north of England. Perhaps he wants to be here when we crack the case and he’s being optimistic about the timescale. Perhaps the reason for his prolonged stay is altogether more menacing.

‘You think we should bring him in?’

‘Not yet,’ I reply, ‘he’s obviously lingering for a reason. Let’s see what the ANPR tells us about where he is travelling to. That way, we will have more information to question him with. Let’s get back to the office; I think we are due a briefing.’

DCI Bob stands at the front of the briefing room, his sleeves are rolled up and his shirt is partially untucked at the front. He seems stressed, his face flushed and his words pouring out a little quicker than usual. He is underlining the importance of making headway in the case as the press are starting to poke their noses in and he can’t give them an adequate enough answer to satisfy them. Once he feels he has emphasised his point, he hands the floor over to me.

I pull the evidence board into the centre of the room. It contains photos of Rory, Ed, Reuben, the unknown homeless man and the shoe print ingrained on Anna’s face. I point to Rory and tell the assembled team about the latest encounter with the grieving fiancé and the plan to see what information we can gather through ANPR before bringing him in for questioning. In the corner of my eye, I can see the DCI nodding his head at this course of action.

Next, I motion to the grainy image of the homeless man and recount to the team what we know so far from the CCTV footage and from what Zed had to say. I make it priority number one to find him and confirm his identity. DCI Bob interjects and says he can try to get a few more officers into Altrincham town centre to try and locate him. With nothing left to report on him, I move onto the shoe print.