‘Okay, I’m listening.’

‘I know you said he was trying to help, but I’ve still got my doubts. There was something about the bloke that set my teeth on edge. I can’t tell you what it was exactly, but I didn’t like him. It was a gut feeling more than anything else. I left his house, thinking we needed to know a lot more about him.’

Kesey leant in towards her sergeant. ‘Okay, so what have you found out?’

‘Nothing that helps.’

‘Come on. I need more than that. Start talking.’

Lewis cradled his pint glass in both hands. ‘He’s a qualified nurse. He was working overseas for some charity in Syria before coming back to this area for his father’s funeral a few months back when he inherited the house. I knew of the father. He was suspected of being part of a paedophile ring offending against multiple kids years back.’

‘Was he done for it?’

‘No, sadly not, he was only named by the one young child, with no corroboration. Nothing came of it. I don’t think he was even arrested in the end. They concentrated their efforts on other key suspects.’

Kesey looked back with a thoughtful expression. ‘Okay, that may or may not be relevant. You said Heath was a nurse in Syria. What’s he doing now?’

‘He’s a teaching assistant at a primary school. St Mary’s, the same one attended by Lottie Weller.’

Kesey’s eyes narrowed. ‘Okay, I know where you’re coming from on this, but it’s not much of a coincidence if you think about it. It’s a small town. There are only so many schools in the area.’

‘I’m not so sure, boss. It’s too much of a coincidence for me.’

‘Oh, come on, if Heath’s working as a teaching assistant, he must have been DBS checked. It’s an essential part of the application process. If he had any sort of relevant record, he wouldn’t have been allowed near the job, let alone appointed. That’s the way the system works.’

Lewis lowered his eyes. ‘Yeah, he was checked, and, no, he hasn’t got a record. It’s the first thing I looked at.’

Kesey sighed. ‘So, basically, you’re telling me that Heath’s a model citizen who was only too ready to help us.’

Lewis frowned dejectedly. ‘On the face of it, yeah, I’ll give you that much. But I would love to have a good look around his place. If I thought I could get a warrant, I’d be there now. The bloke’s got nonce written all over him.’

Kesey shook her head. ‘We’d need one hell of a lot more than a gut feeling before getting a warrant.’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, I know. More’s the pity.’

‘On a positive note, we’ve had a few more alleged sightings of Lottie in various parts of the country. Nothing solid, nothing that gives me any real hope of finding her, but at least the press coverage has got people talking. She’s in the news, that’s what matters. Maybe it would be worth me doing another radio interview to keep her at the forefront of people’s minds. The soldier wouldn’t have come in without the publicity. There may be another witness out there who hasn’t contacted us yet. Someone knows something. They always do.’