She felt confident that if the woman wasn’t going to budge on Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig, then she’d at least catch her out with what she knew about the two girls. But first, she wanted to give her chance to hang herself with her own noose.

It was Rob who’d spotted it. When the girlfriend of one of the pilots had received images from him, excitedly telling her that he was staying in a palatial castle for the weekend, she’d handed them over to the police, and Rob had taken a closer look.

One of them was a selfie taken in the hallway of the grand residence, and in the background were several other people. Kelly had the photograph with her now. There was so much polished glass in the decoration and fixtures of the Laurie Fell house that photos taken almost anywhere would throw back reflections, and the same was true of this particular photo, enlarged and forensically enhanced. Kate knocking on the door had been planned. It was actually to pass Kelly the photo once it had been perfected by Rob to the point where there was no doubt of its contents.

‘I’ve just been handed this,’ Kelly said. ‘It was found on the phone of one of the deceased pilots. He was staying at Laurie Fell as a guest over the weekend, along with his co-pilot, as their helicopter was hangared next to the maintenance shed. As you can see, the woman standing in the doorway looks familiar doesn’t she?’

Nellie Lowther’s face became almost human for the first time. It was something she couldn’t help and the discipline required to maintain her faceless mask dissolved as she reacted naturally for once. They’d caught a glimpse of Nellie Lowther un-staged, and Kelly pushed her. The lawyer sat forward. She scrutinised the photo and then closed her eyes, defeated.

‘It’s me,’ Nellie said.

‘Excuse me?’ Kelly said. ‘Can I confirm that the witness has identified herself in the photograph, dated Sunday evening, and located inside Laurie Fell house. Nellie, can you identify the two young girls you’re stood with?’

‘No, sorry, I don’t know them,’ Nellie said.

Kelly bit her lip. ‘I’ve just showed you their photographs, Nellie.’ She pointed to the images. ‘This one is Sasha Granger, and this is Chloe Tate. In the photo, you’re speaking to them and you look very comfortable. You knew them.’

Rob had done an excellent job with the photograph.

‘I don’t know them, I’m being polite,’ Nellie said.

‘But why did you tell us you’d never seen them before?’

‘I forgot.’

‘And why did you lie to us about not being inside the property at the same time as your guests?’ Kelly asked.

‘I don’t know…’

The lawyer crossed her legs and bounced her foot.