She tipped her head to the side. ‘You think my friend Martin might lie for me? Oh no, Martin’s a lovely man. He’d never lie. Super-ethical is Martin. And … you know what …’ She leaned forward as if we were conspiring. ‘I bet you’ll see my van on some CCTV on the way home in the morning too. Wouldn’t that be good?’

‘What about other members of your group? Where were they on Sunday night?’

‘Ah, well, I’m not sure. We’re quite an amorphous group. I mean, this isn’t my style, but I can’t vouch for the others. People are very angry. They’re losing patience. Nicey-nicey hasn’t worked. The way the meat industry operates is intolerable, both for animals and for the planet. Maybe somebody decided this girl’s life was a price worth paying to make it clear they’re serious.’

‘How did your group know about Violet’s disappearance so quickly?’

Leona smiled again. ‘I don’t know. We’re a big group.’

‘Someone wrote a comment implying she’d been fed to pigs. Where did that come from?’

‘Sorry, I have no idea.’

‘What did you mean when you said she got what she deserved?’

‘No mystery. We heard she’d gone missing and we speculated. Were we close to the mark? How funny!’

‘Are there members of your group who are more inclined to a violent approach?’

‘There are indeed. But they know I’m not, so they don’t share their plans with me.’

‘You know who they are though?’

‘Not really. I gather our Lee had a contretemps with Gary Finchley, but I don’t think he’s the sort to do anything that requires planning.’ Lee was rat-man, and I suspected she was right about his planning abilities.

‘We’ll need a list of group members, please.’

‘No problem, but as I say, we’re not an official group. And there are more aggressive offshoots. I’ll give you a list of people I know.’

‘Please do that.’

‘I’d be looking at the men she rejected,’ Leona said. ‘You must have seen the comments on her videos. She wasn’t always very polite to the poor boys.’ This much was true.

‘Anyone in particular?’ Fiona said.

‘You must know how it works,’ Leona said. ‘The rejected and humiliated male who turns to violence as a pathetic way to demonstrate his masculinity. Happens all the time in America – look at all those high school shootings. I’d be checking the comments on Violet’s website for people like that. The rejected, the entitled, the men who like to control women. So much fury these people have inside them when they don’t get what they want.’

‘Yes, thank you. We are doing that,’ Fiona said.