Anger at one’s partner was clearly not always a motivation to commit murder. Men were also murdered by their partners less often than women were, though it happened more frequently in same-sex partnerships. Added to that, Issa’s messages had seemed to suggest that he hadn’t known where Alex was.

But Jonah wondered whether there were more messages from Issa, and exactly what they said. Following proper procedure, he hadn’t made any attempt to unlock or look at the phone itself. That was a job for the tech team. So the only messages he’d seen were the ones on the lock screen.

He’d already made a request through Detective Chief Superintendent Wilkinson for the technical team’s work to be fast-tracked. The DCS had agreed that would be appropriate, and Jonah hoped they would have data about Alex’s whereabouts and communications later this afternoon.

With that thought, Jonah’s phone buzzed. He’d switched it to vibrate while they were in the mortuary, but he felt that he needed to be in contact with his team. When he checked the screen, it turned out to be not his team but his significant ex, Michelle.

He felt an uncomfortable squeeze in his stomach at the sight of her name. An unwelcome reminder of the last time he’d seen her, and the guilt he’d felt about it all since.

Her message was brief and apparently casual.

Hi. Would you be free for a quick call today at some point? I could use some advice.

He let out a sigh, strongly suspecting that it was an excuse to make contact again. If he had to guess, he’d say that Michelle had probably just gone through a break-up and was feeling vulnerable. She was reaching out to him because he’d shown himself to be interested, even after a year apart.

He wondered whether he should reply at all, and if so, what the hell he should say, but before he could decide anything, his phone buzzed again with the insistent vibration of a call.

He glanced towards the door into the rear part of the building. There was no sign of Issa returning from IDing the body, so he made his way to the front door to take the call.

‘This is Charlie,’ he heard, in the nightclub owner’s unmistakable Sheffield accent. ‘We spoke earlier at the club? I’ve looked through the footage, at the door, and your victim left at one thirteen.’

Jonah nodded to himself. ‘That’s great, thank you. Is he with anyone?’

‘No,’ Charlie said, ‘but you know I mentioned the brunette? The really drunk one? She left just before he did. It looks like he may have been following her.’