‘Naw, I bloody hate all that. Really depressing. I like reality TV, action films and sport. I don’t bother with the rest of it,’ she said.

Ava took a deep breath. ‘So you’ve not heard about the murders happening in the city at the moment, then?’

‘Obviously I’ve heard a bit, but I’ve not read anything, like,’ she replied.

‘So you’re unaware that Stephen Berry, from the Queensferry Crossing, ended up dead at the base of Tantallon Castle and that Osaki Shozo was killed in his flat. At the moment, the only link between those two deaths is you and your friend, RJ.’

Vicki’s hands went to her eyes first, then to her mouth.

‘You’re shitting me,’ she said. ‘You’ve got to be. I can’t have done that.’

‘We’ll let you know,’ Ava told her, ‘just as soon as we’ve had a chat with your pal.’

‘Rufus Jacob Bott,’ Tripp announced to the waiting squad. ‘To be fair, if that were my name, I might have reinvented myself as RJ, too. His phone contract provider has given his address and we’ve already confirmed that he has a silver BMW registered to him. He’s twenty-four years of age and lives in a flat in the north-west of the city.’

‘Good work,’ Ava said. ‘Have we got anywhere on how he might have got details on Hawksmith and Moffat?’

‘Nothing so far, but I believed Vicki. I don’t think she’d ever heard the other names you gave him. He managed to get information from Vicki, though, so it’s possible RJ approached other mental health workers or support charities and got the information elsewhere.’

‘I agree,’ Ava said. ‘We’re ready to mobilise, just waiting on an armed unit to confirm they can provide backup, then we’ll enter his flat and see what we get. Pull all units working on this from everywhere in the city. No mistakes picking him up. I don’t want any hostage situations, no escape routes. Do we know if RJ has a job?’

‘Not as such,’ Tripp said, ‘but it looks like Vicki was right about this guy posting nasty stuff online. I can’t get into the website yet. It’s members only, not fancy security but enough to keep the Internet team busy until we get back here. What I have seen, though, is that RJ was trying to build a name for himself as a video blogger. Lots about death, seems to be a big fan of some other dick who made a video visiting places known for suicides across the world. Also, he’s offering money to anyone who can provide footage of people dying, doesn’t matter if it’s natural causes or not.’