Quinn makes a call. ‘Os, it’s Harry. Three glass cabinets containing human remains were delivered to The Connection at St Martin’s around six this morning. Check the CCTV and find out the name of the uniform who stopped by and chatted to the delivery men . . . That’s right . . . get whoever it was in for an interview as soon as possible. Thanks.’

*

Archer and Quinn enter The Connection and show their ID to the male receptionist. He tells Archer that Sharon is with Eula in the dining room.

They follow the clinking and scraping of cutlery on china and enter the large dining space. Archer scans the tables and sees them sitting at a remote spot away from the lunch crowd. Eula Higgins is a sturdy West Indian woman of indeterminate age with shoulder-length plaits of curly black and purple hair. She looks across and nods at Archer and Quinn.

‘Sharon, Detective Inspector Archer is here. She would like to talk to you.’

Archer and Quinn sit at the table.

‘Hello again, Sharon,’ says Archer.

Sharon trembles as she holds onto a mug of hot tea. The ravages of addiction and street life have taken an even greater toll on Sharon than when Archer first met her two years back. She is in her thirties, however the lines on her face suggest a much older woman.

‘Are you OK to talk?’ asks Archer.

Sharon nods her head.

‘Thank you. I’m so sorry about Billy.’

Her shoulders begin to shake and her face contorts. Eula squeezes her forearm gently.

‘Could you tell me when you last saw Billy?’

It takes a moment for Sharon to compose herself. ‘I ain’t seen him in some weeks or more. He just upped and left.’

‘Do you know where he went?’

‘No. Where would he go? He ain’t got nowhere, or no one. Just me and the streets. That’s all.’

‘Did he tell you why he was going?’

‘He just said he had somewhere to be.’

‘Can you tell me about when it actually was that you last saw him?’

Sharon shrugs. ‘I dunno. Three weeks maybe. Sometimes he’d disappear for days and I wouldn’t see him, but he’d always come back to me. Dunno the date. Don’t have much call for dates no more.’

‘Where did you see him?’

She frowns as she tries to think. ‘We was on the Strand with a few tinnies, mindin’ our own business.’

‘Did he say where he was going?’

She shakes her head.

‘How was his mental health when you last saw him?’

‘He got by.’

‘Was he using?’

She gives Archer a suspicious look. ‘Whaddya mean?’

‘Anything you tell us might help to find who did this.’

She hesitates before responding. ‘Yes.’

‘Crack, heroin?’

Sharon confirms with a nod. She says nothing more and stares blankly at the table.

Eula speaks. ‘Sharon, tell DI Archer about the videos.’