‘I’ve been checking almost every day and I’m afraid not.’

‘DS Quinn, what have you got?’

‘We released the three pranksters this morning. Neither DI Hicks nor I think there is anything that links them to the murders. They’re just opportunists.’

‘And Jason Armitage?’

‘He is still in custody. It seems he was responsible for breaking into Elaine Kelly’s flat.’

‘How is that possible?’

‘The Forensics report came in late yesterday. Armitage’s DNA is all over the place. He was searching for something. It took a while to get the truth from him but he finally admitted to writing the “I will cut you” note to Elaine. He said he broke into the flat to try to find the note. He reckoned if we found it, we’d use it to incriminate him because of his previous convictions.’

‘Do you believe him?’

Quinn shrugs. ‘Hard to say. On the one hand he has a history of violence, but on the other he is a bit of an eejit and I’d be surprised if that was an act. He did say that when he arrived at the Aylesbury Estate someone else was hurrying down the stairwell. A man wearing a hoodie and carrying a backpack. When we pressed him further on that he was able to remember that he had the smell of spray paint about him. His description of the man seems to fit the person we saw on CCTV in Alaska Street.’

‘Did he see his face?’

‘No. When Armitage heard him coming he scarpered out of sight and hid behind the bins. We searched his flat and found no evidence of spray paints, preserving chemicals or artistic tendencies. I say that, but I did come across some impressive doodles of stick men, like a six-year-old might draw.’

‘Good work. Thank you, Harry.’

Archer notices Pierce walking across the office. She enters the incident room and plops her large leather bag onto the table.

‘Good morning, ma’am,’ says Archer.

Pierce offers a half smile. ‘Where are you up to?’ she asks as she pulls off her calfskin leather gloves one finger at a time and unbelts her long dark coat.

Archer gives her a potted summary.

Pierce folds her arms and listens with her customary poker face. ‘Thank you, DI Archer, and thank you, everyone. I know you have all worked incredibly hard and have faced challenges but we need to push harder.’

Pierce hesitates before continuing, leaving what seems the longest pause.

‘The Olinskis delivered nine cabinets in total. Somewhere in London there are three more cabinets. Do everything you can to find where those cabinets could have been delivered to. There are lives at stake and the public is losing trust in us. Where are we with Lewis Faulkner?’