‘You are Mr Jeremy Roth, is that right?’ Palmer asked, having made a mental note of the nameplate on the office door.

‘Yes, I’m he.’ The man wiped his mouth, conscious there may still be sick on his lips and chin, while Barrett pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves and moved towards the box.

It was the same size as the cardboard box that had contained the spectacles. The difference this time was not only that the box had been addressed to ‘The Editor of the Cambridge News’ but that the note, …Now You Don’t, had been written on a strip of paper placed inside the box along with the three fingers.

‘When did you receive the package?’ Palmer asked, grateful that Barrett had taken the decision to deal with the box.

‘It was sitting outside the entrance to the building when I arrived this morning.’ Jeremy swallowed another wave of nausea. ‘I had a lot of work to do and forgot about it until about quarter to eleven, which was when I opened it. I thought it might be a gift.’ His face was full of shame.

‘Do you recognise the handwriting?’ Barrett said. He used a pencil to lift the lid of the box.

‘No.’ Jeremy turned away not wanting to watch and covered his mouth with his shaking hand. ‘Please, can you please just take it out of here.’

‘Did you touch anything inside the box?’ Barrett asked, ignoring the distressed man’s plea.

‘I took the note out and read it. The fingers…’ He shuddered. ‘Were beneath a piece of bubble wrap. That’s over there. I didn’t touch them.’ He pointed to the discarded wrapping on the floor.

‘Do you have any idea why this would be sent to you?’ Palmer asked looking at the vomit stains on Jeremy’s beige cable-knit jumper.

‘No idea at all.’ The editor looked lost. ‘What does it mean?’

Palmer and Barrett looked at one another. The details about the fingers being removed from Wendy Matlock and Dennis Wade had been kept from the press and it was now obvious the killer wanted it out in the open.

‘We believe this may be linked to a case we are currently investigating.’ Barrett closed the lid of the box and retrieved the discarded bubble wrap from the floor.

‘You mean those two murders?’ Jeremy’s dark brown eyes widened from behind his reading glasses. Palmer thought he looked more like a science teacher than a journalist.

‘I’m not at liberty to comment,’ Barrett said, knowing full well that by that afternoon the editor would have released the news about the fingers via the newspaper’s website and that tomorrow morning there would be a front page spread and soon it would be national news.