‘We’re looking for a parent of Keira Bradley. We were told that this is her address?’ Kelly was struck by the contrast between this victim’s home and what Emma and Rob had reported about Ella Watson’s. It was as if everyone expected tragedy to occur here, but not to someone like Ella. It was jarring. She wouldn’t say there was a nonchalance in the air; rather a sense of inevitability.

‘What’s she done? I’m her mam.’ The woman leant on the door frame in a surly manner.

‘We’ll need to come in, Mrs…?’ Kelly showed her ID and formally introduced herself.

‘That bad, is it? It’s that boyfriend of hers, no doubt. She wouldn’t listen to me: always hanging round the bad ’uns. Come in, then.’ The woman moved aside. ‘And it’s not Mrs nowt. It’s Sharon Bradley.’

As Kelly stepped inside the flat, she had to give the appearance that her stomach wasn’t churning in reaction to the range of interesting smells inside. There was cigarette smoke, body odour, questionable evidence of bodily functions, as well as animals. She heard scratching in a cage, and a cat sat lazily on a windowsill. Sharon Bradley limped to a chair. Kelly forced herself to sit down and concentrate on the devastating information she was about to deliver.

‘Sharon, I’ve come here to give you some very bad news.’ She kept the script factual; they always did.

Sharon eased into the chair and tutted.

‘I’m terribly sorry to have to inform you that your daughter has been identified as the victim of a stabbing. A fatal stabbing.’

They waited.

The woman laughed. ‘Are you pulling my leg?’

Kelly said nothing, just slowly shook her head.

‘Where is she? Who says it’s her?’

‘A neighbour, and this loyalty card from 8 Till Late.’ Kelly held the evidence up in a plastic bag so Sharon could see it.

‘Where is she?’ Sharon’s voice increased in pitch and volume and she tried with difficulty to stand up. It was a shock response, and until the liaison officers arrived, Kelly or the uniform, who both had work to do, would have to stay and make sure she was all right.

It began to dawn upon the woman that they were telling the truth. The tears came, and Sharon’s face was a picture of confusion and anguish, closely followed by anger. It was genuine emotion, and Kelly could see that despite the state of the place, Keira Bradley was loved.