‘That could be for a couple of reasons. He’s been moved to Stanford Hall in the Midlands. It’s not officially open yet. They’re in the process of transferring activities there from Headley Court in Surrey.’

‘So it might not be set up for visitors?’

‘Possibly not. There’s still a lot of construction going on.’

‘And what else?’ asked Bloom. ‘You’ve got something else.’

Jameson collected the blue folder from the desk and opened it. He placed two printed images on her desk.

A man was tied to a chair, his corpse bloated and disfigured and surrounded by a large pool of blood.

‘This is Harry Peterson’s cousin, Julian. He was found on Wednesday by a delivery driver.’

‘Where?’

‘In the kitchen of his house in a small village in Normandy. He’d been tortured pretty brutally. Not a professional job, but toenails pulled out, fingers chopped off. I’d say whoever did it enjoys their work a little too much.’

‘I take it you’re thinking a psychopath?’

‘Ha … although, actually, yeah. One of your criminal ones.’

‘How long had he been dead when he was found?’

‘The autopsy will tell us more but from the bloating and discolouration I’d say probably somewhere between one and two weeks.’

Bloom looked up. ‘Marcus, that could mean he was murdered just days before Harry’s kidnap.’

Her partner nodded slowly. ‘I’m thinking whatever it is that Harry’s just forgotten, this guy knew too.’

24

‘Have you seen this?’ The next morning Bloom thrust an open newspaper on to Jameson’s desk. He looked down. There was a picture of Devonport Naval Base surrounded by police vehicles and a small photograph of Harry Peterson. The headline read:

Hero’s Memory Tragically Wiped by a Terrorist Bomb

The article described Captain Harry Peterson’s tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and included a quote from a colleague that said he was an exemplary pilot and universally liked by his colleagues. It said that he had lost four years of his life and that doctors at the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre expected that the damage sustained would be permanent. There was a profile of the suspected bomber, a short description of the bomb and details of those killed and injured.

‘Is that right?’ said Jameson, finishing the article. ‘About his memory loss being permanent?’

‘It’s early days. Although they could have done an MRI or a CT scan, I suppose.’

‘They haven’t named the doctors. It’s probably some hack wanting to make the story as dramatic as possible.’

‘I agree. But it’s going to upset Karene and no doubt his children too. It’s irresponsible journalism.’

‘You say that as if journalism is usually responsible and not all about selling papers.’

‘They should be investigators and purveyors of the truth.’