Fry help up a second bag. ‘This is a Slovakian passport, sir. Discovered in the same hiding place, behind your daughter’s wardrobe. Not as much call for a Slovak identity in Ireland, I suppose, even now? This one is for Nadezda Halak, from the city of Ko. sice. Nadezda would be twenty-four by now, if she was still alive. Would you like to see what’s actually left of her, sir? I can arrange for that to happen.’

Rourke shook his head, resorting to a silence that was no good for the tapes. Fry nodded at Lenaghan.

‘Interview suspended.’

Fry couldn’t wait to make the call to her DI and tell him that she’d not only established how Nadezda Halak died, but had also confirmed the identity of the second body at Pity Wood Farm. She was buzzing with satisfaction, and at the end of the conversation with Hitchens, she still felt she hadn’t talked enough, so she rang Ben Cooper and told her story all over again.

‘That’s brilliant, Diane,’ he said. ‘So the trip to Ireland was really worthwhile, after all.’

‘Yes, it was.’

Then Fry remembered it was Tuesday, the day she’d been afraid of being away from Edendale, and her excitement began to ebb away.

‘So what’s going on back home?’ she said cautiously.

‘Oh, the new superintendent has arrived.’

‘Making an impression, is she?’

‘You might say that. There’s no doubt who’s in charge. She’s already taking the credit.’

‘But she hasn’t done anything,’ said Fry. ‘She can’t have. Not yet.’

‘Maybe. It’s hard to tell what’s been going on behind the scenes.’

Fry sighed. ‘Has she done anything I need to know about?’

‘Put Gavin in his place with a firm hand.’

‘Oh, well …’

‘And Jack Elder is being released.’

‘Elder? He was my prisoner.’

‘Not after tomorrow,’ said Cooper. ‘He’ll be in court in the morning, then he’ll get bail and walk away.’

‘Damnation.’

‘The superintendent is right, though, Diane – we don’t have any evidence to connect Mr Elder with a serious offence. He’s not a credible murder suspect.’

‘No, but he’s a link,’ said Fry. ‘I’m sure of it.’

‘It’s a pity you’re not here to put your case to Branagh.’

‘Yes, isn’t it?’

‘It appears Orla Doyle is one of our missing persons,’ said Lenaghan when he’d escorted Rourke back to his cell. ‘What a result. You can come here again, Detective Sergeant Fry.’

‘Thank you. I think I can say it was a mutually satisfactory visit, Garda Lenaghan.’

‘Tony,’ he said.

‘What?’

‘You ought to call me Tony.’

Cooper got out the Toyota to drive into Sheffield, where he had an appointment with the forensic anthropologist, Dr Jamieson. A traffic officer he passed in the car park greeted him with a weather forecast.

‘Fog.’

‘That’s bad news.’