It felt both shocking and inevitable at the same time. I wanted to sob with frustration at my own stupidity. Because Jai was right. I didn’t like it. ‘You’d better sit down,’ I said.

Jai shifted towards my desk.

‘On the chair,’ I said.

‘Okay, okay.’ Jai sat on my guest chair, uncharacteristically still. ‘There’s more. Violet’s clothes were in the bin liner, but there was also a set of overalls with Violet’s blood on them. Dark blue overalls. The only one who wore dark blue overalls was Daniel.’

I remembered holding Daniel’s collar while he reached down to rescue the lamb. The infusion of well-being I’d felt afterwards. The pleasure I’d taken in his company, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. ‘It’s so out of character,’ I said.

‘We don’t know his character.’

But I’d thought I did know his character. I’d watched him risk his life for a lamb. He worked in an abattoir to help the animals even though he hated it. ‘Have we brought him in?’ I asked.

‘We’ve tried, but we can’t find him. He’s disappeared. His van’s gone, there’s no sign of him at the caravan park, and he’s not answering his phone.’

‘You think he killed her?’

‘The evidence certainly suggests that. We know he liked Violet and she wasn’t interested. What if he found out she was sleeping with Gary? He was upset the morning after she disappeared, plus he referred to her in the past tense.’

I sighed. And his mum was keeping secrets for him. Possibly. I told Jai about my conversation with Donna.

‘He’s definitely dodgy,’ Jai said.

‘Okay. Pull out all the stops to find and arrest him. We’ll release a statement. Maybe the Justice for Violet crazies can spend the night hunting for Daniel Twigg instead of committing atrocities.’

I’d decided to visit Mum on the way home. I wasn’t going to achieve anything staying longer at work, and the revelations about Daniel, on top of all the online criticism I’d received, had left me feeling like I’d been kicked in the head. I needed a few hours away from the case.

I pulled up in Mum’s driveway and hauled myself out of the car. Mum’s lawn was tinged yellow from the hot weather but the damn thing hadn’t stopped growing. It was ironic that, back when she’d been rushed off her feet tending to Gran, Mum had never let the garden go, but now triffid-like things were appearing in the herbaceous borders.

I let myself in and nearly fell over a parcel in the hallway. ‘Mum,’ I shouted.

I found her at the kitchen table, reading glasses on, scrutinising paperwork and drinking tea.

‘Have you been buying more stuff from eBay?’ I said.

‘Just a lamp.’