She picked up the sack containing Bev’s handbag and its contents. Staring at her, tinted blue by the plastic, Bev smiled out from her hospital ID. Her throat tightened, and she blinked away tears. How was she going to tell Elinor her friend was dead? Worse, how was she going to face that moment when she had to tell Torin his mother was never coming home? The death of hope was always the hardest part of any investigation. Knowing the victim, feeling so personal a loss intensified Paula’s sense of failure. But it was also a potent spur to action.

Paula examined the contents of the bag as well as she could through the plastic. A moorland car park wasn’t the place to take them out of their protective covering. There was nothing that she didn’t expect. But the mobile phone did give her a moment’s pause. She pointed it out to Fielding, who was studying the body intently.

‘What about it?’

‘Nadia’s phone was among her things too,’ Paula said. ‘That suggests her killer knew there was no threat to him from the phone. He knew we weren’t going to find his name or his number on their phones. Doesn’t that suggest a stranger or a stalker rather than somebody they knew?’

‘Either that or he used a false name and a pay-as-you-go phone so it wouldn’t matter.’

She had a point, Paula thought. ‘But it would still be taking a risk. If we found messages from untraceable numbers on both victim’s phones, we’d know we might be looking for someone in their lives. Surely to be on the safe side, he’d take the phones?’

Fielding shrugged. ‘On balance, you’re probably right. Unfortunately it doesn’t take us any further forward.’

A little encouragement would go a long way, Paula thought. It almost made her not bother offering her other idea. But she couldn’t let pettiness interfere with the hunt for Bev’s killer. ‘Another thing struck me,’ she said.

Fielding looked up. ‘What?’

‘The lack of cameras. Here and around the crime scene in Gartonside. When you think how much of our road system is covered by ANPR or speed cameras, it’s a bit of a coincidence that he dumped both his victims in places he could approach without any concerns about being recorded.’

‘You don’t think that’s a stretch?’

‘I think it’s worth bearing in mind. We should ask Traffic how you could find out where the camera blind spots are and how somebody could find that out.’

Fielding nodded. ‘Not a bad idea. But it feels a bit like clutching at straws. Let’s see what the forensics give us on both victims and, if we’re no further forward, you can talk to Traffic. I tell you what I’m more concerned about right now…’

‘What’s that?’