She finished frothing milk and stirred his coffee, passing him the cup. ‘I think I’d like that, and so would Lizzie,’ she said.

He smiled and Kelly thought she’d never seen him so nervous. It made her feel deeply conscious of how much Johnny wanted his family back.

‘When’s Josie back?’ he asked.

It was telling of his relationship with his oldest daughter that Kelly knew her plans before he did. Kelly knew that the bad weather wouldn’t have stalled the expedition in Borrowdale. Josie had been hiking with her father for as long as they’d been together, and would love the challenge.

‘She’s back tomorrow. She’s not allowed her mobile until then, so it might come as a bit of a shock that you’re suddenly around the house. I’ll talk to her,’ Kelly said.

Johnny nodded and sipped his coffee.

‘I need to go,’ she said. She went to her daughter and picked her up to kiss her, and the girl squirmed to get her father’s attention. Typical of small humans everywhere, she was letting her mother know that she was nailing her allegiance firmly to the parent who was around the most at the moment. Kelly snuggled into her neck and gathered her things.

‘Thanks for digging me out,’ she said to Johnny. They kissed.

The drop in temperature outside made her rush to the car, and she almost slipped on the fresh snow, which had frozen as soon as it hit the ground. Johnny had cleared the windscreen for her and had the heating running for half an hour. It was cosy inside and she set her Toughpad up with the Bluetooth in the car to occupy her as she queued in traffic to get to Penrith.

Paul Edderbridge, released pending the continuation of his cooperation, was due back in the station this morning, and the forensic report of his girlfriend’s place had been sent to her via email. Sat in traffic, she glanced at it and her stomach dropped to her guts. She read that the flat, shared with his girlfriend, who he used as a punch bag, as well as three young children who were terrified of him, was a chaotic tip. Underneath the detritus the team had discovered various items of interest and one of them was a collection of simple diagrams of a helicopter hydraulic system.

She called Kate, who hadn’t made it out of Keswick yet. Rob, however, had spent another night at Eden House, and was fired up at his desk already. Kelly spoke to him.

‘How many coffees have you had already?’ she asked.

‘Only one,’ he replied. ‘A squad car has been sent to Paul Edderbridge’s residence, but has reported back that he wasn’t home and he didn’t come home last night either.’

‘Bugger,’ she said.