‘We have footage of Andrew Wade getting onto a ferry at Portsmouth harbour. The video recorded the time as 9.33 on Sunday morning. The ferry left the dock at ten o’clock and landed in Cherbourg at one in the afternoon. I have been in touch with Interpol and they are on the look-out for his vehicle, but he has a head start on them, sir. They are checking AutoRoute CCTV as we speak.’

‘Slippery little bastard,’ Barrett said, referring to Andrew Wade, as he turned to face Palmer. ‘I want to see you in my office.’

Following his boss, Palmer worried that he’d done something wrong. He wracked his brain to try and work out what that might be.

‘Close the door,’ the DCI barked as he took a seat in his chair.

‘I’ve had the Chief Constable on the phone to me this morning. He’s had the press on his case. Seems someone has let slip about our second victim.’

‘Well it wasn’t me, sir!’ Palmer held his hand against his chest in horror.

‘I know that, Joe.’ Barrett softened, and Palmer breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Could have been the courier. Anyway, point is, it doesn’t matter who it was. What matters now is that we have a media storm brewing and the Chief Constable isn’t too happy about it.’

‘It won’t help the investigation,’ Palmer agreed, sitting down and allowing himself to relax a little.

‘No, normally I would agree with you but in this instance, I think we have an opportunity.’ There was a twinkle in Barrett’s eye that Palmer hadn’t seen for a long time. ‘The truth is, Joe; this murderer has killed two people in as many days. It is too early for us to have uncovered the pattern and we are at the mercy of this criminal. Rather than try and bury the story, why not use it to our advantage. We could do a reconstruction, for example. It’s worked in the past.’

Palmer thought about this for a moment. ‘The Chief Constable will never allow it.’

‘I suspect that the Chief Constable doesn’t want any more people found hanging with their fingers removed, either!’ Barrett spat. ‘If our killer is prepared to strike twice in such close succession, who knows how long it will be before another victim shows up…’