The student living quarters bore no resemblance to any student digs that Nikki had ever seen, and she’d seen a few grubby rooms in her time. Ultramodern, the main entrance opened into a large communal space with a central hub that housed chairs and tables, and a bank of ovens, refrigerators and store cupboards. Several students were making snacks, getting hot drinks or generally hanging out there. A series of corridors radiated from the central core, and off these were the student pods.

Using the swipe card, they let themselves into Kerry’s private domain.

For a student, it was unnervingly tidy. The bed was made, and there was very little clutter of any kind around. It seemed that Kerry’s only concession to traditional student living was to cover the walls with pictures. But hers were very professional pictures.

‘Bloody hell! Villiers was right.’ Nikki studied an atmospheric black-and-white study of a derelict windmill. ‘She’s damned good. I suppose it’s her work?’

‘I’d say so.’ Joseph looked from picture to picture. ‘With the probable exception of these.’ He pointed to a collection of postcard-sized photographs.

Nikki squinted. ‘What are they? Stars and stuff?’

‘They are astrophotos, taken through a telescope, and to get quality like this, someone was using some pretty expensive equipment, I’d say.’

‘Not her?’

‘Wouldn’t think so. Unless she keeps her telescope and accessories somewhere else. There’s no room for that kind of stuff here.’ He looked around, then added, ‘And frankly, science, astronomy and cosmology enthusiasts who would be capable of taking shots like this tend to be male.’

‘Sexist!’

‘Far from it. I’m actually admitting that geeks, nerds and anoraks are generally blokes. She clearly has an interest in the subject, or she wouldn’t have the photos, but I just feel, looking at these other pictures, that she’s more artistic, more into moods and atmospheres.’

Nicely sidestepped, Sergeant Easter! ‘Right, well, let’s see what we can find. You take the living area, I’ll take the bedroom section.’

Nikki had never been inside a pod before, and was impressed. Within the small area was a living space with desk and workstation, a bedroom with roomy storage boxes, hanging space and cupboards built around the bed, and a full en-suite. The windows in both rooms were floor to ceiling, giving the small apartment a bright and airy feel. There were no cooking facilities except for a narrow breakfast bar with a microwave and an electric kettle, but she guessed the communal hub provided everything they needed for eating and socializing.

She thought about her own early years, and decided it was best not to try to make comparisons, because there seemed to be none.

She began to sift through Kerry’s belongings, and felt a pang of nostalgia at seeing the young woman’s bright, trendy clothes. Every drawer was neatly packed with carefully folded T-shirts, blouses, camisoles, shorts and underwear.