She was aware that she’d become animated and was surprised by her own passion. It was curious how, now that she was away, she felt like she belonged in the Lakes. It was a moment of true comfort and she smiled to herself.

‘What are you grinning at? You look ridiculously happy, Kelly, what’s his name?’

‘God, you men! I don’t need a man, Matt.’

He sat back and feigned defence with his arms. ‘Whoa, sorry. Still a touchy subject then, Boadicea?’

Kelly got up.

‘Shit, Kelly, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to make conversation. I want us to get on.’

A few people looked over at them and Kelly realised that it wouldn’t look good to make a scene. She sat down. She wasn’t ready to tell Matt about Johnny. She felt it would be some kind of betrayal to let him into her private life, and anyway, it was none of his goddamn business.

‘I’m happy there, Matt. Let’s get back to work, please.’

Matt sighed. ‘All right.’

‘I have to say that if I was in Cumbria now, and we had sightings of a white van, I’d be out in a patrol car looking for it. I think it was Mike Harding, the comedian, who called one of the roads up there the longest cul-de-sac in Britain.’

‘Good for trapping perps, then?’

‘Exactly.’

They smiled at each other and carried on their assessment of what they had learned this morning.

‘I was thinking about the men who were seen going into George’s house, and who potentially ransacked Alexandros’s flat,’ Kelly said. ‘What were they looking for? And what about Mike and Emily’s houses?’

‘Do you think it might be connected to the garage?’ Matt asked.

‘More importantly, are Emily and Mike’s families safe?’

Matt tapped his phone and spoke to somebody to check. Family liaison teams were with both families and would remain with them for the foreseeable future.

‘Find out if they had computers at home,’ Kelly whispered. Matt nodded.

Routine searches of both properties had taken place, as was normal with murder victims, but not all the items had been thoroughly processed yet. Personal computers could provide a wealth of knowledge, and if somebody wanted to gain access to what was going on at the garage, they might not stop until all the loose ends were tied up.

‘All good, apparently. The personal items, including family laptops, are being searched: nothing of interest has been found so far. If anyone’s watching the houses, they’ll know that our presence is round the clock, and we’ve got no evidence to suggest that they’re in danger at the moment. The liaison teams are used to handling situations like this. So, what else? I haven’t had any information coming through to link any of the neurocellular team to the colantropine scandal.’

‘Any news on the Cypriot authorities speaking to Alexandros?’