I’ve watched Mr Gareth Price in action before; the man is formidable. For each of DCI Bob’s opening questions, the lawyer interrupts before Ben has a chance to even open his mouth.

‘My client won’t be answering that question at this stage,’ he says, again and again and I can sense DCI Bob’s frustration growing.

‘Look,’ says Ben, peering at the lawyer like a naughty schoolchild, ‘all I want to do is clear this up. The reason I ran away from the police that day is because I’d been smoking weed. I saw the police car and freaked, OK?’

The lawyer is doing well to contain his annoyance, though I can see a muscle in his jaw tighten.

‘I wasn’t thinking and I know how it looks, but I can hand-on-heart say that I haven’t murdered anyone.’

DCI Bob’s countenance brightens immediately. There’s almost the hint of a smile. ‘Tell me about what happened outside the pub on the night of the fifth of December, the night Jason Krist was murdered.’

Ben looks at his lawyer, who gives an almost imperceptible nod, so he launches into a story about how he had followed Jay to the pub in order to apologise and ask for advice on how to make it as a film maker but chickened out.

As he is explaining why he took refuge in the alley, the door of the observation room opens, allowing a shaft of light to enter the darkened room. Angela beckons me with a curled finger and I turn away from the one-way glass, following her to her desk.

‘Sorry about tearing you away from the interview, Erika, it’s just, I’ve got… news,’ she says.

She sits down on her chair and spins it so that she is face to face with her computer screen. Clicking a few icons, she brings up a map which shows an aerial view of Manchester city centre and the surrounding towns. There are a dozen or so small red dots in total, almost in a triangular formation. I kneel down to get a better view.

‘What exactly am I looking at here?’ I ask her.

‘It seems Mr Rory Knox is back in the North,’ she answers. ‘The red spots are the locations Rory’s car has triggered an ANPR camera. Mostly in the city centre, but a few down towards Altrincham, presumably visiting Anna’s mother again.’

I pull over another chair and sit down, studying the map. Why has he suddenly made a re-appearance? He must know that his little video has made a splash and been brought to the attention of the police.

Maybe he’s back to find his next victim. It’s more important, now than ever, that we find Rory Knox. I tell Angela to keep me in the loop and that the next time his car is recognised, to let me know straight away.

Angela produces a print out of the map and I take it to my room, setting it on top of the paper work I’ve been neglecting.