A mixture of other people filled the halls, all speaking at once, some counsellors, some patients, and there was a fair amount of crying. Ava could understand that. It was distressing, the sense of being invaded, of having the place where you worked and did a job you believed in suddenly raided. It was something of a violation. Just not as much of a violation as having someone enter your home and shove your penis in a toaster.

‘We’re taking all the computers as well as the hard copies of both staff and patient files,’ Ava announced to the staff members once Vicki had been removed into a police van.

‘You can’t do that. You need a court order,’ a man declared.

‘You’re Charlie Packham, right?’ Ava clarified.

She’d only heard his voice before, first outside the door when she’d been talking to Rune Maclure, then again when he’d been talking Janet Monroe down from the top of the tower block. He was tall and skinny, arms crossed over his chest. However good a counsellor he might be, she thought, he had little natural charm about him.

‘I have Rune Maclure’s consent,’ Ava assured him. ‘I’ll need you all to remain here until you’ve given statements to these officers. After that, please do not leave the city without notifying the police first.’

‘Are we in trouble?’ Packham asked.

‘Not at all,’ Ava reassured the group, the angry, unprofessional part of her wanting to say the opposite. That they’d been careless with the information they kept on patients. That a bunch of psychotherapists, of all people, had so badly misjudged the character of someone they’d employed that they’d rendered already vulnerable people prey to a vicious killer. ‘But you may have information you don’t even realise yet that’ll help us to fill in some blanks. We just need you to be contactable, that’s all.’

‘Can we continue our work, away from the drop-in centre?’ a female asked.

‘Yes, of course,’ Ava said. ‘But you’ll need to find a more secure way to keep patient information from now on.’ That last one she couldn’t resist.

‘Rune Maclure doesn’t have the authority to speak for all of us. This charity’s run by a committee. Maclure’s just one member of it,’ Packham chimed in again. ‘I’ll be consulting a lawyer. I don’t accept that the police can just read sensitive documentation without the authority of a judge.’

‘And I don’t understand why anyone would want us not to when it might save lives. After all, isn’t that what your charity was set up for?’ Ava bit back. ‘But feel free to consult a lawyer, if you really think that would be the best use of your time and the charity’s funds.’