The unnamed body of a man had been found buried in a shallow grave in the countryside surrounding the village. A local dog walker had discovered the body. The victim was never identified, but the police found the killer following an appeal to the public. A local man, Michael Holden, was arrested and charged with the murder. Witnesses had seen him near the scene of the crime, and there were enough traces of his DNA on the victim’s body for the CPS to bring a case against him. Michael Holden served ten years in prison for manslaughter.

The story had been widely covered, and Dee had vague memories of reading about it at the time. What had particularly interested people was the killer’s motivation. According to everyone who knew him, Michael Holden was a quiet, unassuming man who’d never committed a crime before in his life. Yet for reasons no one had ever been able to work out, he had gone out one night in October 2010 and killed a man he claimed he’d never met before. The police had never been able to find anything to link Michael Holden to his victim. In the intervening years, several journalists had revisited the story, but had never found out what had motivated Michael Holden to kill a complete stranger.

‘He’s Annie’s father,’ Dee said. ‘She was in her early twenties when the murder happened. There are plenty of references to Fiona in the stories about the murder, and photos of her at the trial. But there’s nothing about Annie.’

‘You know, this goes a long way to explaining why she was so reluctant to speak to you,’ Leonard said. ‘Something like that in your life, it’s bound to make you wary of strangers.’

‘I suppose so,’ Dee said.

‘What about Ed Mitchell? Where does he fit into this?’

‘I was wondering when you’d ask.’ Dee clicked on one of the stories, searching until she found the sentence she wanted:

Standing outside the court after the sentencing, Detective Ed Mitchell, who led the investigation into the murder, gave a brief statement.

‘He was in charge of the investigation,’ Dee said, ‘which means he knows Annie and Fiona.’

A photo of Ed accompanied the story. Ten years ago, he had more hair and less bodyweight. Apart from that, he’d barely aged at all since the photo had been taken. Seeing him today had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. She’d spent the past few months doing all she could to forget about him. Then today… Wham! The old feelings she’d had for him had resurfaced, as sharp and strong as ever.

‘We need to find Annie,’ Leonard asked. ‘She’s the key to all of this. Whatever this turns out to be.’

‘How?’