‘Yes, well, it turns out it was a waste of everybody’s time, wasn’t it?’ Kennedy retorted, pushing his glasses up his nose, his upper lip curled in distaste.

‘Chief, if I’d had doubts about Healy and hadn’t interviewed him, wouldn’t that have been worse?’

‘I think we need to put the whole Healy thing to rest now, Inspector. It’s caused you enough embarrassment.’

Tom bit his tongue. It wasn’t the time to have it out with his superior, but he could feel that argument brewing. It would happen before this case was over, he was sure of it.

‘I have a problem I need to make you aware of,’ he said. ‘A member of my team has gone missing. Laura Brennan.’

Kennedy shifted into business mode.

‘Gone missing? Since when?’

‘We believe that at some stage yesterday she went to check on something related to the case. Alone. She didn’t return home last night and didn’t come in this morning. Her mobile is off and nobody has seen her, including her family and friends.’

Kennedy frowned.

‘So, she’s not even been absent for twenty-four hours? Tom, I can see from your face that you’re concerned, but I can’t understand the reason for it. Maybe she’s off with a boyfriend? And how do you know she’s not at home now? She could be sleeping off a hangover.’

The inspector gritted his teeth.

‘She lives with another detective on the team,’ he said. ‘And she doesn’t have a boyfriend.’

‘As far as you know,’ Kennedy smiled, trying to look fatherly. ‘Look, don’t let a silly girl distract you from the investigation at hand. DS Brennan will turn up, and when she does, give her a slap on the wrist for causing you concern. Your sole focus needs to be on finding Fiona Holland, not worrying about an errant detective.’

The inspector stared at his boss in disbelief. He could have pointed out that Laura was not the ‘silly’ sort. He could have said that she would never deliberately cause her colleagues any worry. He even could have asked why Kennedy had been so concerned about Bart Healy being brought in for questioning but didn’t seem bothered when a young female detective vanished off the face of the earth – especially when they were in the middle of a hunt for a serial killer who targeted young women. But Tom didn’t say any of those things because he knew his concerns would fall on deaf ears.

Kennedy wasn’t on his side. He was steadily and subtly undermining the inspector. He knew Tom’s credentials and knew that he wouldn’t have called into the chief’s office unless it was serious. But instead of treating it as such, Kennedy had dismissed him.

Even though the inspector felt red-hot anger building inside him, he refused to rise to it. He’d more important matters at hand.