‘I’m following the evidence, McIntyre. And that’s where it’s leading me. You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgement.’

‘Am I? I don’t think it’s my emotions. It’s my knowledge and experience. I’ve worked with Tony Hill for years. He saves lives, he doesn’t take them.’

‘And I think you could be totally wrong. But it’s good that you’re digging your heels in. It gives me something to push against. It means we’ll test our case properly and not get ambushed in court by the defence. Right now, though, we’re just at the start. Away home now and come back in the morning refreshed and ready to go.’

‘What about the media? Have we told them we’ve made an arrest?’

Fielding shook her head. ‘I’ve told the squad to say nothing. Which probably means it’ll be all over the internet by bedtime. But I’m saying nothing officially.’ She fastened her case and shooed Paula out of the office. ‘See you in the morning. With a bit of luck, we’ll see his happy little face on the Trafford Centre cameras.’

And she was gone, leaving Paula all wound up with nowhere to go.

Home had never been like this. It was like walking into the middle of an intense TV drama. Torin was on his laptop at the dining table, a strange woman Paula presumed to be Rachel McAndrew was in an armchair with an iPad and a glass of wine and Elinor was ironing a white shirt. Ironing a shirt? Paula hadn’t realised Elinor knew where the ironing board lived. But death – particularly sudden, violent death – always left people unsure of how to fill their time. The look of relief on Elinor’s face told Paula all she needed to know for now.

‘Hey, Torin,’ Paula said. ‘Hello, love,’ to Elinor. And, ‘You must be Rachel. I’m Paula. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about Bev. We were very fond of her.’

Rachel put down her wine and stood up, extending a slim hand adorned with a couple of diamond rings. ‘It’s such a shock,’ she said, her voice tremulous. ‘And Elinor says we can’t even bury her.’

Paula flashed a quick look at Torin, whose head lowered even closer to his screen, hair hiding his eyes. ‘I’ve arranged for a Family Liaison Officer to come over tomorrow morning to take you through what’s happening and explain how to go about the official side of things. He’ll be here at half past nine.’

‘Rachel’s planning to stay at Bev’s tonight, if that’s OK with the police,’ Elinor said. ‘But Torin would rather stay here.’