‘This is your controversial theory.’ Chief Superintendent Barker glanced around, checking that everyone was listening.

‘I’ve noticed that our game players display certain traits; traits that concern me.’ Bloom stood, picked up a pen from the tray below the whiteboard and wrote a list of keywords as she spoke. ‘Stuart, Faye and Grayson have all been described to us as sociable and charming. We also know that all four players were competent liars. Stuart was described as manipulative and a bully by his ex-employer, and we know that Lana deceived her own daughter and the likes of Jameson’s sister over a considerable time period. When we spoke to Harry Graham, he said his wife was often angry and aggressive. And we have a report from Grayson’s tutor that he threatened to make his life difficult if he was forced to attend lectures. Then we have parasitic lifestyles and a failure to take responsibility. Lana relied on others to raise her daughter, and Stuart happily lived a very comfortable life with his wealthy fiancée while struggling to hold down a menial job himself. Then, of course, we have the level of irresponsibility and impulsiveness needed to walk away from your home, your family, your job and your life to take up some dare … So we have a list of traits which sound worryingly familiar.’ She read the list on the whiteboard aloud. ‘Charming, liar, manipulative, bullying, parasitic, irresponsible, impulsive. We could easily add prone to boredom and lack of realistic goals to the list, as we have seen hints of this in all four missing persons.’

‘Looks like a description of your average criminal scumbag,’ said DS Green.

Bloom nodded. ‘That may be.’ She took another pen from the tray, this time a red one, and proceeded to write a second column of words: inflated ego, emotionally shallow, lack of guilt, lack of empathy. She looked at the faces around the room. Carly Mathers was frowning, DS Green scowling.

‘Have you heard of Antisocial Personality Disorder?’ Bloom asked. She pointed at the second list. ‘Because if we add in these last four traits, that is exactly what this board describes.’

‘Isn’t that …?’ started DI Mathers.

‘Yep,’ interrupted Jameson, with a deadpan tone and a neutral expression. ‘Psychopaths.’

‘It’s estimated that one in every hundred people possesses antisocial personality traits. These people live among us in astounding commonality,’ said Bloom.

‘One in every hundred?’ said DS Green. He was clearly the sceptic of the group; it was always healthy to have at least one.

‘It’s a spectrum. We probably all have some of these characteristics, and some of us will be more extreme on, let’s say, impulsiveness than others. But some people possess all these qualities at a more extreme level. It’s like any human difference. It doesn’t mean they’re all serial killers and most won’t ever commit a crime.’

‘So … what? They just do nothing?’ said DS Green cynically.