‘Before we move on,’ I said, ‘I’m still concerned that our UnSub may have dependents. Someone has got to be missing a daughter or a sister or a friend, surely?’ I took in the images of her waxy, blackened corpse on the board. ‘If she has an elderly relative at home or a kid, they may not be able to look after themselves or call for help.’ I felt the atmosphere change in the room and knew I’d hit a nerve with the team. ‘We’ve got to keep appealing to the public for information.’ We’d all done First Aid courses and knew how crucial hydration was. ‘It’s been two days now. Forget food. Without water, if she’s got anyone at home, relying on her, they could be close to death. We’re running out of time.’

For a few moments, everyone was still and there was a deathly quiet in the room.

‘If they rely on medication, even worse,’ Dan added, and the disturbing reality ricocheted around us.

Shen plonked her elbows on the desk and rested her chin in her hands. ‘Where now, Boss?’ Her voice was down-beat.

It was up to me to motivate the team and lead the way; to make sense of the mass of information and leads. But all we had was the next few steps, and an ever-increasing pile of questions. ‘Have we learned anything new about Hayes?’

‘Nope. We haven’t had one call about him,’ Alexej said. ‘I’m wondering if he’s changed his appearance again.’ He was pointing at the images we had for him. ‘Alternatively, he could be doing time. The analysts are checking prisons.’

‘What if he’s gone abroad?’ Shen’s face was pinched.

‘I hope not.’ Jackie had just arrived. ‘I’ve just come off the phone with Manchester. We’ve had Kenny Hayes in our sights for several years. He’s a ruthless scumbag who will stop at nothing. His convictions are a drop in the ocean compared with what we suspect he’s been involved with.’

Her words sent a chill through the room.

‘I’ve got a list here of the aliases he’s used most frequently. He seems to like “Jimmy” and “Kieran”, and uses the surnames “Cox” and “Moore”. But he could be using anything.’

‘Uniform are taking Hayes’ mugshot out to some of the key flash mob witnesses and places where he might be lurking.’ Alexej told us. ‘With any luck, someone will recognise him and perhaps someone knows who Frazer is.’

I checked the clock. ‘I suggest we view Indra and Marta as our key suspects.’ I did a sweep of everyone’s faces. ‘Tomorrow’s tasks . . . ’

Everyone in the team braced themselves.

‘We’ll have to wait until we can see Indra. Shen, can you monitor incoming data on Kenny Hayes and John, please? And chase the analysts for the key messages from the H-2-H data?’