Constable King was as pleasant as she could be about it, I suppose.

‘The difficulty now is that our investigation lines have been rammed with calls from people wondering if they’re at risk, or what measures they should take, or just trying to find out all the insider information. The team is flat out trying to sift through all that.’ She rubbed her neck, the tension obvious in her face. ‘We fear the attention might make the killer bolder. They might thrive on it, take risks.’

I felt wretched. Had I inadvertently made things worse?

‘They’re very clever,’ Constable King continued. ‘They’ve left us no clues. We still haven’t been able to locate Clare Taylor’s phone or laptop, and nothing of use showed up on the records from her phone company.’

‘I’ve done this all wrong,’ I said and I could feel my composure slip.

I was just a stupid old woman. It wasn’t the first time I’d been called that, but it was the first time I truly believed it.

‘You’ve been manipulated by a very clever journalist,’ Constable King soothed. ‘Try not to feel bad about it.’

Her facial expression didn’t match the comforting nature of her words, however. She was clearly annoyed. DI Bradley was probably fuming.

I was angry with myself. I never seemed to be able to do anything right any more. I deserved everything my life had become.

‘So, where do we go from here?’ I asked, hoping she wouldn’t suggest I leave the house.

I wanted to cling to it even more now. It felt like the only constant in a world that wasn’t making much sense.

She took a breath and told me patrols would be increased further. Police would look into fitting panic alarms to the house and I’d be given a panic mobile phone for when outside the house.

‘I know this must sound scary, Elizabeth, but we’d rather be overly cautious than sorry. Normally, these measures are reserved for when a direct threat has been made to someone’s life. I want to stress, we don’t feel this is the case for you, but given that the suspect still hasn’t been identified and is therefore still at large, we don’t want to take any chances. Extra resources are being drafted in to work on this investigation. I want you to understand that we’re doing everything within our power to get this person apprehended. We’d ask, again, if there’s someone you could stay with or who could come and stay with you? Being here must feel quite isolated at times.’

‘It never has before,’ I said, and it was true.