‘I feel tired,’ he said. ‘A perpetual state these days, but don’t let’s go into that.’ He passed one of the photos across. ‘Ever seen her?’

Martha examined it with a slight frown. ‘This is a mortuary photo, isn’t it?’

‘That’s right. I pulled her out of the river this morning.’

‘Suicide?’ There was an expression of real grief on her face. ‘Poor child. Poor, poor child.’

‘No ordinary suicide,’ Miller said. ‘This girl did everything she could to destroy her identity before she died.’

He sketched in the main facts and she nodded sombrely. ‘So Father Ryan thinks that Joanna Martin wasn’t her real name?’

‘He got that impression, which the other two people I’ve spoken to who knew her confirm. Coming to see you was just a hunch really. I was hoping that somebody might have put out a search for her – that you might recognize her photo.’

Martha nodded and held up the medal. ‘She still hung on to Joanna. Interesting that – they nearly always do hang on to their Christian name. It’s as if they’re afraid of losing themselves entirely.’

She gave him back the medal and made a few notes on her pad. ‘Let’s see what we’ve got. About nineteen, fair hair, blue eyes. Well spoken, educated, obviously from a superior background and an artist. We’ll look under the name of Martin first, just in case, and we’ll check the Christian name.’

‘I didn’t know you could do that?’

‘As I said, so many of them hang on to their Christian names that it’s worth cross-indexing and Joanna isn’t very common these days. We’ll see what we’ve got here and I’ll also put through a call to London. Should take about fifteen minutes.’

Before he could reply, the ’phone on her desk rang. She took the call and then held out the receiver. ‘For you – Detective Constable Brady.’

Martha went into the outer office and Miller sat on the edge of the desk. ‘What have you got?’

‘Plenty,’ Brady said. ‘I’ve just had a session with a character named Jack Fenner. He’s been a registered addict for just over a year now. He makes a living as a dance band drummer.’

‘I think I’ve seen him around,’ Miller said. ‘Small, fair-haired.’

‘That’s him. He says he had a prescription for heroin and cocaine filled at the all-night chemist’s in City Square at midnight on the dot. Joanna Martin stopped him on his way out and offered him a couple of quid for enough pills for a shot. His story is that he felt sorry for her. Said she had the shakes.’

‘No chance of a mistake?’

‘Definitely not.’ Brady laughed harshly. ‘In fact this is where it gets interesting. Fenner says he’s seen her before.’

‘Where?’