‘Perfect place for an ambush,’ she said, thinking aloud.

‘Could be,’ Nehwal agreed. ‘If Cunningham used this route regularly, which she apparently did, someone could have observed her, probably over several nights, and then specifically chosen this spot … because they needed a vehicle to make it happen.’

Lucy nodded. ‘The garage is part of a row, but all they had to do was go through the flimsy back wall to grab her. No one would have seen anything. Have we had dogs at the scene?’

‘Of course. But they could only follow Cunningham’s trail as far as the garage interior, which is further evidence.’

‘We’re not saying the cases are definitely connected,’ Beardmore put in. ‘But there is a similarity.’

Again, Lucy thought aloud. ‘I suppose if your gig is abducting people in public, the most important thing, once you’ve overpowered them, is to get them out of sight as quickly as possible.’ She glanced round. ‘And a van is the obvious means by which to do that.’

‘But even in this Harry Hopkins case, that would suggest there was more than one assailant,’ Nehwal said. ‘It’s not that easy getting someone into a vehicle if they don’t want to go. It would certainly have required more than one in Lorna Cunningham’s case.’

Lucy nodded again. This thing was getting uglier by the minute.

‘Something on your mind, Lucy?’ Beardmore asked.

‘It may be nothing,’ she said. ‘But … well, we may not have two abductions, we may have three. In fact, we may have more than that.’

The two senior detectives remained blank-faced.

‘I think you’d better explain,’ Nehwal said.

‘The other day, my attention was drawn to the fact that several homeless people have disappeared in recent weeks,’ Lucy said.

Nehwal frowned. ‘Under what circumstances?’

Lucy shrugged. ‘No clue as yet, ma’am. One day they were around, the next they weren’t. No one seems to know any more about it than that.’

‘Who reported them missing? Their families?’

‘No one. Not officially. It’s mainly Skid Row gossip.’

‘Lucy, homeless people are often transient,’ Beardmore said, shrugging. ‘And they’re usually in poor health. Sometimes they just crawl away and die, and no one even notices. I know that’s awful, but we shouldn’t let it muddy the waters of real investigations.’

‘Stan, one of them was a chap called Fred Holborn,’ Lucy said. ‘And about a week and a half ago, he may well have been abducted by the occupants of a dark-blue transit van.’

Beardmore looked surprised. ‘I haven’t heard about this.’

‘Again, it’s based on unreliable intel,’ Lucy explained. ‘The only witness is a drug-abusing part-time prostitute called Sister Cassiopeia.’

‘Sister Cassiopeia?’ Nehwal said.

‘She was a nun, ma’am, but she got kicked out. She still wears the habit, though.’

‘A druggie sex worker who dresses as a nun …’