It was a kind of performance. DCI Fielding did her briefing on PowerPoint. She had one of those soft Scottish accents that took the harshness out of her words and made her audience want them not to stop. ‘The body of Nadzieja Wilkowa, known as Nadia, was found yesterday morning in a squat in Rossiter Street, Gartonside.’ A picture of the exterior of the house. ‘She had been beaten to death.’ A shot of the body in situ. Fielding clearly didn’t believe in sparing the squeamish or the hung-over. ‘A blow to the head from a pipe or a baseball bat, then battered and kicked. We think she was killed here, judging by the blood spatter. Our killer’s finishing touch was to superglue her labia together.’ An explicit photograph that made Paula feel angry and nauseous. ‘As we can see, her genital area had been shaved. When we find a boyfriend, I want to know if the shaving was her usual practice or if it’s something our killer likes to do.’

The next shot showed the bathroom. Fielding used the laser pointer as she went through the key information. ‘The victim’s clothes and bag were stuffed down here. Not really hidden, just out of the way. It’s possible he may have made her wash in the bath. Or washed her himself. The water to the property has been cut off, but the squatters have rigged up a rainwater catchment system that provides a limited water supply. There was a puddle of water in the bath.’

Back to the exterior shot of the house. ‘Gartonside is no-man’s-land. So there are no cameras on the approach to Rossiter Street or the surrounding area. I’m thinking the killer knew that. He seems too careful an offender simply to have got lucky. One of the many interesting questions is how he knew that the squatters would be gone for the weekend. Black, Hussain, I want you to talk to them. Find out exactly who knew they were going to be away. And who knows they live there.’ She flashed a smile at the two detectives, the kind of smile that Paula reckoned made you feel the love.