‘Marcus Jameson. We met the other night at the Marquis. You were there with Steph Chambers.’ He was only slightly disappointed that she hadn’t remembered him.

‘Sorry,’ she said, smiling. ‘I’ve met so many new people recently. They’ve all merged into one!’ She turned back to the counter to order a flat white.

Ouch, thought Jameson.

‘Yes?’ said the girl behind the counter.

‘Large latte to go, please,’ he replied.

‘Just one size.’ The girl had a strong Eastern European accent. She waved her hand at the blackboard behind her.

Sarah collected her coffee. She’d be leaving any minute. He handed over a fiver, then called to Sarah, ‘Is the coffee good?’

She looked back at him. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Is it good? The coffee? I’ve never been here before.’

‘Yes.’ She pulled the door open.

‘Maybe I’ll see you here again, then,’ he said.

With just a small nod of her head, she was gone.

Jameson took a sip of his coffee. She was right. It tasted pretty good. A second reason to make this his regular coffee shop.

‘G’day, Sheila,’ Jameson said as he walked into their small office.

‘G’day, Bruce,’ replied Bloom. ‘Sit down. You’ll want to hear this.’ Jameson perched on the edge of his desk. ‘We have another player. A DCI from Merseyside. He went missing last week and colleagues found the card in his flat.’

‘A copper?’

‘And a dodgy one at that. He’s been investigated for everything from corruption to attempted rape.’

Jameson whistled.

‘There are more psychopathic traits higher up the corporate tree. So I expect this won’t be our last player in a position of power.’

‘I reckon I’ve worked for a few in my time.’ Jameson switched on his laptop. ‘I have a name for Jane’s father. Thomas Lake. Claire knew it all along.’

‘How did she take the news?’

‘About Lana? She couldn’t believe it. She showed me a photograph Lana had sent from Afghanistan. I should have an email from … Yep. Photoshopped, according to my man. He found the original.’ Jameson leaned in closer to his screen. ‘She swapped in her own head. Did a pretty good job, too.’

‘She’s resourceful. I can’t argue with that.’

‘So where the hell has she been going all these years?’

‘It’s not unusual for psychopathic personalities to live double lives – triple lives even. She could have another family running in parallel. Some male psychopaths have dozens of children via multiple marriages, sometimes all over the world. They’re an impressive bunch; they cover their tracks.’

‘You really love psychopaths, don’t you?’

Bloom tutted. ‘I have a healthy interest. And it’s my job. And,’ she continued, ‘it makes sense to understand those who might struggle to understand and think like us.’