‘Good, that helps us build up a narrative for the jury. He stalks her, he walks up on her, he tasers her and boom! It’s over. Juries always resist abduction unless there’s a good struggle. But the taser ticks that box for us.’ Fielding’s laptop chirruped and she glanced at the screen. ‘Is that all?’ she asked absently.

‘You know about the CCTV at the Trafford Centre?’

Fielding nodded impatiently. ‘Yes. Give me a shout as soon as Cody’s in the house. Well done, McIntyre. Go and get yourself a coffee before we look at the CCTV, it could be a long night.’

Never mind the coffee. Now she had a minute to herself, Paula wanted to catch up with whoever was dealing with Bev Andrews. It took her a few phone calls to establish who had been put on the case then track him down. She found PC John Okeke in the canteen, working his way through a double all-day breakfast. He was a big lad who looked like he needed the fuel. If she’d been his boss, she’d have been more inclined to assign him to crowd control than investigating a missing person, on the basis of his unnerving size alone.

She bought a couple of coffees and parked herself opposite him. He looked surprised, then she saw the wheels go round and gain traction. He chewed and swallowed then said, ‘Are you DS McIntyre?’

‘I am. And you’ve taken on Bev McAndrew’s disappearance, is that right?’

He nodded. ‘Not that you left me much to do. Thanks for the report. And for doing the search. You saved me a lot of time.’

‘So where are we up to?’ She half-expected him to find a polite way to tell her it wasn’t her case and she should butt right out. But he was surprisingly willing to share.

‘In terms of results, not much further forward. I went to the Freshco you said she usually shopped at and looked at their CCTV for the hour after she left work. She shows up on the cameras in store. She picks up some milk and bread and sausages. She comes out of the store and that’s where we lose her. She walks into the car park and out of their coverage.’

‘Don’t they have the whole car park covered?’

‘No. The area in front of the shop is well covered, but as soon as you get away from there, it’s pretty sketchy. They cover the trolley return points, but once you’re outside that ring of coverage, we’re screwed. Sorry.’

Paula sighed. ‘Bugger. Good thinking, though.’

He dipped his head in acknowledgement and bit into his toast. Chewed, carried on speaking. ‘I talked to her colleagues again. She didn’t show at work today, no messages, out of character for a very responsible boss, no worries or hassles that anybody knew about.’