‘I don’t know Mrs O’Loughlin,’ I said. ‘I mean, this seems strange, but I don’t know where you’re going with this.’

‘Mrs O’Loughlin lives on Coney Road. It was she who found Clare last week and was with her in her last minutes.’

My blood ran cold.

‘Couldn’t this all be a coincidence?’ I asked, grasping at straws that were well beyond my reach.

He shook his head. ‘We don’t think so, unfortunately. We had asked Mrs O’Loughlin not to reveal her conversation with Clare for operational reasons. Details of that exchange have now, sadly, been printed in this morning’s Chronicle. Given the delivery of the flowers and other information we’ve been able to gather about Clare’s last days and weeks, we believe we have a duty to advise you that we believe her last words may have referred to you and Mrs Cosgrove.’

He paused, giving me a moment to take in what he was saying.

‘We understand this’ll be extremely distressing for you, so we’re here this morning to speak to you about increased security measures. At this time, some of my fellow officers are also with Mrs Cosgrove and she’s being given the same information. We’ll be doing all we can to ensure that you and your family remain safe while we work to get this individual into police custody once and for all.’

‘But what’s changed, between Saturday and today? You presumably had all the information that’s just been published anyway. You didn’t think we were targets then, did you?’ I asked, pressing my fingernails into the palms of my hands to try to distract myself from the panic building inside me.

I watched as Constable King glanced at the ground. DI Bradley cleared his throat.

‘It’s more that we fear the coverage will now embolden whoever did this. They may feel we’re on to them and that may make them panicky, or braver. Neither is good. Given what was written in each of the cards on Saturday, and the information we now have about the shared link between Clare, Julie, Laura O’Neill and you, we don’t think it wise to take any chances with your safety.’

I felt a cold sweat break on the back of my neck, reached up to rub it, to try to ease the tension in my muscles.

‘Why? What did Mrs O’Loughlin’s card say?’

‘I’m not at liberty to reveal that at the moment,’ he said, blushing. ‘But we really do need you to think about any links, any interactions you may have had with Laura; especially in later years.’