Cat said nothing, but could not contain the satisfied grin that was spreading slowly across her face.

The door of 42 Rydell Street was opened by a plump, middle-aged woman with brown cow-eyes and an instant smile. The smile faded swiftly when she saw police officers, and her hands flew to her mouth.

‘Oh no! Something’s happened to my Terry, hasn’t it? He’s had an accident!’

‘Please, Mrs James, don’t distress yourself.’ Joseph stepped forward and, with his most sincere smile, said, ‘We just need his help with something, that’s all. There’s no accident, okay?’

The woman heaved a great sigh. ‘Oh dear. Well, I’m sorry but he’s out visiting a client. That’s why I thought …’ she allowed the sentence to trail off, then added, ‘he’s due back any minute, you’d better come in and wait.’

Nikki sent Dave and the uniforms back to their cars, then she, Joseph and Cat went inside. The living room was big and airy, with large sash windows and a high ceiling. Everything was scrupulously clean, tidy and minimalist. So spotless that Nikki felt the urge to check the soles of her shoes for specks of dirt.

‘What sort of work does your husband do?’

‘He’s a web designer.’ Mrs James announced with pride. ‘And he’s very good. Got lots of satisfied customers.’

Nikki didn’t dare look at Cat, who was making a strange coughing sound. From what Cat had told her about the computer game, the people who used it were after a very particular sort of satisfaction.

‘What is this about, Inspector?’ Mrs James had begun to look worried.

‘We just have a few questions for him.’ Nikki looked at the woman shrewdly. ‘What sort of people does your husband work for?’

‘Small business’s mainly. So many people shop online theses days that it makes economic sense to have a mail order side to your business if it’s appropriate. Terry designs sites for them.’ She stood up. ‘I can show you some of his work, if you like?’

‘That would be helpful.’

The woman led the way out into the hall, down a narrow corridor and into a large room used as an office. Two computers sat idle, and shelves full of books, CD-roms and office equipment neatly lined the walls.

‘Here.’ She moved the mouse on one of the computers and a vivid desktop appeared. She double-clicked on one icon and a very professional cookware site appeared. Not quite the sort of thing that Nikki had expected.

‘This is his latest design.’ She closed the site and opened another. ‘This is the company he’s working with today. They are a floral postal service. Nice, isn’t it?’

Brightly coloured bunches and bouquets of flowers filled the screen.

Joseph leaned towards the screen. ‘Must be quite difficult work, what with all the different options, shopping baskets and checkouts, etcetera?’