‘Ninety-two per cent… so that would be about 184,000 people. And assuming your current ratings are correct and that they’re all watching. That could be 92 per cent of ten people. There are 66 million people in this country, Guy.’

Clearly alarmed by Géricault’s fast maths, Guy changed tack. ‘But what about the others, DI Géricault? What about the convicted sex offender Gavin White? Convicted paedophile Derek Scudd? The two men who regularly patrolled country lanes looking for lone women drivers to kidnap and rape? Is it any wonder the public don’t have a lot of sympathy for Lewis’s victims?’

‘Is that true?’ Géricault frowned. ‘Have you met Sarah Bishopston? Or her fatherless children? Or AJ Thompson’s devastated family?’

Cue Guy’s serious look right down the barrel with his steely greys. ‘The consensus is that, right or wrong, Lewis killed more bad people than good.’

‘That’s simply inaccurate,’ said Géricault. ‘And I don’t know how you can arbitrarily differentiate good from bad.’

‘You have,’ scoffed Majors.

‘Yes, but how can you even begin to see the good in this woman?’

‘Well, if we look at what happened to Rhiannon at Priory Gardens—’

‘—no, sorry, I refuse to turn this into This Is Your Life: Rhiannon Lewis.’

‘Right, and this isn’t. This is about you, the British police, still not having a clue where this escaped serial murderer is, isn’t it?’

‘Yes but—’

‘—do you know where she is, right now, DI Géricault?’

‘We have a number of leads we are following up—’

‘—but you don’t know where she is.’

‘Look, there are several key factors that need to be in place before we send a task force into any given region. We have worked with our colleagues at Interpol, putting out an All Ports Warning—’

‘—but what if she’s in a country with no extradition treaty with the UK? Does she use the old Ronnie Biggs method and stay put, have surgery and live the life of Riley?’

‘Until we have reason to believe—’

‘—will it be a shoot-to-kill order if you do find out where she is?’

‘We want to bring Rhiannon Lewis to justice in the UK, that’s all we want to do for the families of her victims.’

‘So you don’t want her dead or alive?’

‘We want justice for her victims, Mr Majors.’

‘You’ve no idea where she is, have you?’

‘We’re undertaking a massive search—’

‘—but you still have no idea where she is?’

‘—no, we don’t but—’

‘—no, there is it, right there, no, the British police and their law enforcement partners here and abroad have no idea where Rhiannon Lewis is. Not reassuring for our viewers but at least we got an answer in the end.’

‘You didn’t let me finish, how can I get a word in—’