‘Our victim,’ I motion to the screen, ‘is the actor Anna Symons. Obviously, this is going to kick up a major shit-storm in the media so we need to start making inroads before I call a press conference. News is going to get out, so we want to look like we are on top of this. Angela, can you get us a bit of background on her?’

Angela nods, scribbling in her notebook. I click again and an image of the crime scene appears.

‘Jesus,’ mutters Tom.

‘It’s pretty brutal,’ I agree. ‘Anna Symons had her limbs held to the ice by these,’ I indicate the blades with the laser pointer. ‘When secured, her throat was cut. Her head was held to one side and her tongue was cut out. John is sending over a picture of the shoe print on her face, if we could analyse that, it may help us. Size, manufacturer of shoe or any distinguishing marks. There was a page from a book left too. Martin is checking it over and I’m waiting for a copy to be sent across.’

‘Didn’t she die like that in Blood Ice?’ interjects Angela.

‘Blood Ice, that’s it,’ says Liam. ‘What a dreadful name for a film.’

‘Yeah, I can’t remember much about it, except that the deaths were all a bit gruesome,’ says Angela. ‘I’ll find out everything about her that I can.’

‘Thanks Angela. Tom, can you arrange for someone to notify her family? She was wearing an engagement ring, so any information about her significant other would be useful. I’d quite like to break the news to him myself; see if we can get him in, gauge his reaction.’

‘On it,’ he nods.

‘Right, that’s it for now, let’s get to it. Liam, my office please. Let’s go through what we’ve seen this morning, see if there are any pieces we can make fall into place.’

Half an hour later, Angela and Tom’s heads appear on either side of the door frame.

‘Wow, 10 out of 10 for synchronicity,’ I chuckle, holding up an imaginary judge’s paddle.

Tom pumps his fist and cheers, ‘Angela, you said it would be a waste, but all those months of practice have paid off,’ he laughs.

‘Boss,’ says Angela, ignoring his frivolity. ‘Good news. Anna Symons was in a bar in Altrincham last night called Limas. A woman posted a photo on Twitter posing with Symons, saying how she couldn’t believe she’d met her. It was posted at 11:57pm which is only a few hours before the approximate time of death. I’ve got the CCTV footage from the street outside the bar. I’ve had a quick look and she leaves with two others, both men. She looks like she’s had a bit too much to drink, stumbling about and having to be held up. I’ll send it across to you now.’

Without another word, she backs out of the doorway and marches towards her desk.

‘Great work,’ I call after her. I turn to Tom. ‘What have you got?’