There was just one CSI van and a marked car, but they’d drawn attention. People were hovering around the perimeter, raising their phones to get surreptitious shots.

I parked badly by the side of the road. Even though I was desperate for evidence, part of me didn’t want to know what they’d found. I pictured Helen Armstrong and hoped I wouldn’t be the one to tell her.

A steep common approach path had been marked with crime scene tape. Jai and I walked down, me shuffling sideways because of the slope and my ankle, and were met at the bottom by a uniformed officer.

‘We found a black bin liner, consistent with being dumped from up there.’ He waved towards the road, which was on a bank above us.

My stomach was churning. ‘What was in it?’

‘There’s a lot of hair,’ he said. ‘Long dark hair. And clothes, including underwear. And that pelican brooch is in there, on a chain.’

‘Shaved hair?’ I said.

‘Yes, shaved. And a razor, which I suppose was used to shave it. I’m afraid the stuff is absolutely covered in blood.’

Richard was no better than Craig in hot weather – his flesh seemed to sink downwards, as if you might turn round one day and find him pooled on the floor, still shouting orders up at you. He was sitting heavily on a chair at the front of the incident room.

Fiona was pacing, with arms crossed and a vexed expression.

The pictures of Gary in the pig’s head mask stared at us, Lord of the Flies style. And the photograph of Violet’s face taunted us, her radiance dulling everything else. The team sat in stunned silence. Even Craig sat quietly waiting for instructions.

I could feel the droplets gathering on my upper lip. I wiped them off surreptitiously, and stood at the front of the room with Violet’s face behind me.

‘A bag has been found in the woods, in the general area where we found Gary’s body, but nearer to the road. It contains clothes and boots that have been confirmed as Violet’s. And it contains her hair and a brooch which we’ve confirmed was hers. Also a razor, which we assume was used to shave her.’

‘Christ,’ Craig said. ‘That’s it then. She really was fed to pigs.’

‘There’s a lot of blood on the clothes and hair and on the bag,’ I said, ‘although we think some of it’s animal blood. The lab have agreed to fast-track it. But it’s nearly the weekend.’

‘God forbid that the outsourced lab workers should do anything on a bloody weekend,’ Craig said. ‘Never mind the poor girl’s parents are in hell.’

‘We’ve spoken to her parents and to Bex Smith. Explained that we haven’t found a body. But obviously everyone’s talking about the pigs.’