Her first reaction had been to feel insulted. ‘Of course it isn’t. It’s not about you. I want to crack this case and I don’t have anybody to bounce ideas off, OK? It’s about me, feeling lost without my old team. I’m sorry if you think I’m wasting your time. I wanted another pair of eyes that I could trust, that’s all.’

‘I’m sorry.’ He sighed again. ‘I’m not at my best right now. Let’s take a look at the bedroom and see if there’s anything there that rings my bell.’

But there hadn’t been. The room was neat, no piles of laundry on the floor, no half-worn outfits thrown over the single chair. The duvet cover, a bright abstract, was the only splash of colour in the room. It had been straightened up, the pillows plumped. There was nothing in the wardrobe that didn’t fall into the category of work, casual or night-on-the-town. No fetish outfits, no fantasy props, no sex toys. On one bedside table sat a paperback with a Polish title. It looked more chick lit than Booker Prize. Beside it, a half-empty sports bottle of water and a pair of glasses. Three pairs of understated earrings nestled in a tiny wooden tray beside a small gold crucifix on a fine chain. ‘The kind of girl every mother wants her son to meet,’ Paula muttered.

Tony snorted. ‘Maybe not mine.’ He opened the dressing-table drawer. A box of tissues. A tub of peach-flavoured lip balm. A scatter of condoms and a half-squeezed tube of lubricant. ‘Sexually active.’ He picked up the lube and tested the cap. ‘But maybe not recently. See, it’s hardened round the cap.’

‘Or maybe she’d been having the kind of sex that doesn’t need lube,’ Paula said drily. ‘It happens.’

‘So I’m told.’ He turned to the small chest of drawers in the corner. The top drawer contained a wide selection of inexpensive make-up. Second drawer, practical but pretty lingerie. Third drawer, T-shirts. Bottom drawer, a couple of thick sweaters. ‘I think Nadia might have been on the intersection of nice and dull. Which is interesting, because that’s a combination that reduces her risk factors significantly. Most victims have chaotic elements in their lives. That’s usually how their killers cross their paths. But Nadia seems the opposite of chaotic. Which makes your job that bit harder.’

And that had been the sum total of Tony’s insights. She’d tried not to feel disappointed, but she couldn’t escape the realisation that she’d hoped for more. She’d wanted something to drive the investigation in a new direction, something that would show her new boss that she was someone worth watching.