‘Hi, this is Sergeant Elly Hale from Parkside Police Station. We need you to send over footage from the camera on Trinity Street, near Ashton’s Bookshop, from last night.’ She checked her notes. ‘From after 9pm up until 9am this morning as a matter of urgency please.’

‘Will do. Might take a little while though.’

‘I understand,’ she said, although she didn’t. ‘If it would be quicker, I can send an officer over?’

‘Nah, we’ll get on it.’

Elly knew that the control room hated having CID peering over their shoulders and that as a result they would now spring into action.

‘I appreciate it. Please send the file over to the major incident room. You have the email address?’

‘Yeah, yeah, we’ve got it.’ The man on the other end of the phone sounded bored.

‘Great, thank you. We look forward to receiving it. Bye.’

Elly hung up and blew her dark brown fringe off her forehead. Why were these things always like pulling teeth?

After gathering some papers together, Elly straightened her pencil skirt and made her way towards Barrett’s office, which was on the far side of the room overlooking the snow-covered green. From the window she could see families outside enjoying the snow and for a moment she felt a Christmas glow, but it was snuffed out as she opened the door to Barrett’s office.

Her boss sat on his chair with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at the rest of the room.

‘Sir, I thought you’d like to know we’ve managed to track down the address of Mr Wade’s wife’s sister.’ Elly checked her notes, wanting to avoid eye contact. ‘Mrs Francesca Woodcock lives in Yoxter, Somerset. I have a phone number; or will you be sending a car?’

‘Call the Somerset local branch and tell them to send a squad car over to see Mrs Wade,’ Barrett barked. ‘We need her back in Cambridge as soon as possible. And we need the addresses of everyone who works at Ashton’s.’

‘Yes, sir, I’m working on it.’ Elly excused herself and returned to her desk. She’d just about got used to Barrett’s manner, but it didn’t mean she appreciated it. Every single member of the team felt the pressure when a big case arose. She only wished he would be a little more polite.

On the other side of the room, Palmer and Sergeant Singh were trying to track down information about the main employee of Ashton’s. What they had learnt was that Dennis Wade was not only the manager but also the owner of the shop. It had been in his family for nearly a century and he had taken over running it when his father had retired in the 1980s.