There was a brief silence, broken after a short while by DC Hall. ‘The CCTV only covers limited areas, doesn’t it, boss?’

Grace nodded. ‘Yes, correct, Kevin.’

‘So she could have gone into the store without being detected?’

‘It’s possible but extremely unlikely. One of the photographs of the interior shows a camera in the aisle where the cat litter is kept.’ Grace turned and pointed at the specific photograph on the whiteboard. ‘If she’d gone in to buy cat litter, as he claims, she would have been picked up on CCTV in that aisle.’

Hall nodded.

Grace continued. ‘Another action I want is a check of the index of the Paternosters’ BMW with all ANPR cameras in Sussex, all speed and traffic light cameras, and with the Highways Authority cameras measuring traffic flow. We’ll see if there is any tally with a cell-site analysis of both of their phones.’ He made a brief note, then looked up again.

‘OK, everyone, from the evidence to date, I’m elevating Operation Lagoon from a missing person enquiry to a “no body” murder enquiry. My Policy Book will reflect my decision.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘DI Branson and I established earlier that Niall Paternoster drives a mate’s taxi mainly during unsociable hours – usually starting at midnight at weekends and 10 p.m. during the week. Let’s get that vehicle checked on the cameras, too. Velvet, team up with Polly.’ He turned to DS Potting and DS Exton. ‘Norman and Jon, I want you to go straight from this meeting and arrest Niall Paternoster on suspicion of murdering his wife. I will policy this decision and my reasons for making it, most important of which is the recovery of evidence that might be in the house. I don’t think we’ll require support from the Public Order Team – but if you meet resistance, we will deploy them. So I think we should have them standing by.’

Both officers nodded.

‘We’ll then see if we get anywhere interviewing him lawyered up.’ He turned to Gee. ‘Chris, I’d like you to attend as Crime Scene Manager.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘I want you to draw up the forensic strategy. I need your team to look for any signs of bloodstains and cleaned-up blood. Have them look through all Niall Paternoster’s clothes.’ He turned and pointed at the photograph of him in Tesco yesterday. ‘Especially look for the clothing he was wearing yesterday, on the day he claimed she disappeared. Take anything you can find of hers – toothbrush, hairbrush, diary, the usual stuff – anything that might have her prints or DNA, for lab analysis. As we are treating the entire property as a crime scene, we all know the drill. It’s possible he might have killed Eden some days earlier, so organize a sidescan sonar search of anywhere that looks recently screeded, particularly the garden. Lorna, can you pick that up?’

‘Yes, boss,’ she said. ‘My POLSA colleague, Sergeant Barbara Onoufriou, can start work in the house, garden and any searches arising from our presence there.’