‘We will arrange a car to take you where you want to go.’

‘I’m afraid we will need to undertake a search of your home,’ Palmer chipped in, knowing the distress that it would cause them. ‘To help with our enquiries,’ he added, hoping this would soften the blow but knowing it wouldn’t.

As both women left the room, Palmer saw the look of distain plastered across Francesca Woodcock’s face, but rather than acknowledge it, he turned his face to the ground knowing what an awful few months Mrs Wade had ahead of her. He found a small amount of relief when he heard the women muttering about checking into a hotel.

Back in the incident room, Barrett slammed his fists down onto his desk as Elly Hale delivered the news that the CCTV had given them no leads.

‘We’re going to find out if there is any CCTV on Sidney Street that covers the back entrance.’ Elly spoke quietly, terrified of another outburst from her boss.

‘This isn’t the dark ages, Miss Hale. This is the middle of a busy city. Our killer must have been caught on camera. Find the image. I want it on my desk.’

In truth, Barrett liked Elly, but he was consumed with the job and often forgot to go easy on people, even those on his side.

‘Yes, sir.’ Elly jumped to attention and gladly made her way out of his office.

Palmer sat in a chair on the far side of the room strumming his fingers on his knee and looking out of the window as the city began to go to sleep.

‘The wife didn’t do it,’ Palmer said.

‘No,’ growled Barrett, ‘she didn’t.’

‘We will need to speak to the son. I ran a check on him…’ Palmer closed his eyes, trying to remember the man’s name. ‘Andrew Wade.’ He felt a pang of satisfaction. ‘He lives in Peterborough. Born 1990. No spouse or dependents.’ The rest he recounted from his notebook before checking his wristwatch and groaning. It was only nine o’clock and it looked like they had a long night ahead of them.

‘The team are going to order some pizzas, sir. Do you want anything?’

‘Get me some chips.’ Barrett looked out over the city and wondered how the rest of the world could sleep so easy when there was so much darkness in the world. ‘And ketchup. I need ketchup.’

‘I’m on it.’ Palmer stood and left the room, yawning as he closed the door behind him. That meant putting in a special order from elsewhere, as if he didn’t have enough to do. As he picked up the phone and called the local kebab shop, he quietly cursed his boss under his breath.

Chapter 5

7.50am Saturday 14th December

Marcus Goldman was not in the slightest bit impressed when his home phone went and woke him up early.