‘The forensic psychiatrist’s report,’ Wynne said. ‘There’s a note to the effect that she wondered if the killer was a woman.’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘We talked about it. As you know, more often that not it’s men in these cases, but not always. And she said she had a feeling this was a woman. Or might be.’

‘What did you think?’

‘I thought that it could be either. Women can be equally as vicious as men. But I saw her point. Often the assumption is that a bloke did it – and often it’s the right assumption.’

‘Did you do anything with the information?’

‘Not really. I did wonder though about the woman who disappeared after her parents were killed. The theory there was that she was killed too – but I wondered. Never found a trace of her, though, so the trail went cold.’

‘What was her name again?’ Wynne said.

‘Petersen. Andrea Petersen. I sent the notes on that, too.’

‘Great,’ Wynne said. ‘I’ll look them over. And apologies, once again, for the late call.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ Munro said. ‘But keep me posted, all right?’

Nottingham, July 2013

Brenda

Ned’s mum kept calling, but there was no way she could talk to her. She would realize instantly it wasn’t Alice on the line.

She typed a message.

Hi. I’m tied up. Can I call later?

Please do. I’m worried about Ned. He didn’t come home last night.

No, she thought. He didn’t, and he won’t be any time soon. Not unless he comes back to life and crawls out of that sludge pit.

Really? I haven’t seen him. He probably crashed at a friend’s house.

Maybe. But he’s not answering his phone, and you know Ned. He’s pretty responsible.

He is. Let me know if you find him.

She put the phone aside and opened Alice’s laptop. She had to get away for a while. That was no problem; she had plenty of money.

She sent Nellie and Maddie a message – Hey, going to travel in Europe for a while, get a break from Ned – he’s been pretty relentless – and started looking for flights.

Sunday, 29 August 2021

Tom

Alice stared at him, her eyes hard and unreadable. Then her expression softened.

He got the impression it took some effort.

‘I’m not lying,’ she said.

‘You are. I know you are.’

‘Tom,’ Alice said. ‘You don’t know what I looked like back then. I had long hair, and I cut it short. Plenty of people change their appearance.’

‘That’s not what I’m saying,’ he replied. ‘I’m agreeing that’s you.’

‘What are you saying?’ she said.

He pointed to the woman on the left of the photos. ‘She,’ he said. ‘Is Alice Barnes.’ He pointed to the woman on the right. ‘She is you. Brenda, according to the email.’