Melanie sipped at her tea then she said, ‘Outside…’

‘Yes?’

‘All those reporters. I’m worried…’

‘Melanie,’ Clare said, cutting across her, ‘unless it turns out that the person who killed Mr Fox had some connection to you or the other women in the minibus, none of you will be mentioned. Your identities will not be revealed.’

Melanie flushed and she avoided Clare’s eye. ‘I was thinking,’ she said, ‘if it came to a court case… I might have to testify. It’s just… I wouldn’t want people knowing.’

She broke off and Clare glanced at Chris. It was a good point. There was every chance the truth about the minibus women would come out – if they caught the culprit. ‘Let’s not look too far ahead,’ she said, and she gave Melanie what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

‘Perhaps,’ Clare went on, ‘you could tell us how you came to be booked for Friday night.’

Melanie hesitated. ‘I’ll try. It’s a bit tricky.’

Clare waited, giving her time to sort out her thoughts. Chris sat, ready to note down the statement.

‘It was at nursery, you see. One morning when we were waiting to collect the children, someone was handing out bits of paper. So I took one but, before I could read it, Daniel came rushing out. He had a picture he wanted to show me so I put the paper in my jeans pocket to look at later. I didn’t find it again until the next day. I was checking in the pockets before I washed the jeans.’

‘Who handed it out?’

Melanie shrugged. ‘Sorry, I really can’t remember. In fact, now I come to think about it…’

‘Yes?’

She closed her eyes as if recalling the scene. ‘I think they were on a shelf by the door. Someone picked them up and said What’s this about? I think lots of us took one.’

‘What was on the paper?’ Clare asked.

‘Phone number,’ Melanie said. She reached into her pocket and took out her phone, tapping it to unlock. Then she held it out. ‘This number.’

Clare noted it down. She was fairly sure it would turn out to be the number Samantha Reynolds had given her. The burner phone. But they could check that later. ‘What else did it say?’

Melanie frowned. ‘I’ve been trying to remember. Something like Girls – want to earn a bit of cash? Easy work, good money, and the phone number. That sort of thing.’

Clare waited while Chris wrote this down then she said, ‘And you called the number?’

‘Yeah. It was a woman.’

‘Name?’

‘She never told me.’

‘Did she have an accent at all?’

Melanie considered this for a moment then said, ‘No, don’t think so. I mean she was Scottish. Not posh, her voice – it was a bit gravelly, you know? Like she was a heavy smoker. But I can’t really tell you much more than that.’