‘Ah, now, Priest,’ Solly began. ‘You asked me to look at this mobile telephone to see if I could retrieve any data from it of significance other than the messages stored on the SIM card.’

‘Yes,’ replied Priest patiently. ‘I did.’

‘Well, you may or may not be pleased to know that I have managed to mine various fragments of deleted emails, more particularly the attachments thereto.’

‘But not the emails themselves?’

‘I’m afraid not. But I have managed to recover one document in its entirety, which you may find of interest, although I note you did not define what data you would consider to be of significance and therefore I feel it would be better if you judged for yourself whether the document has any relevance to Priest & Co.’s current case.’

He nodded. Half the time Priest had no idea what Solly was talking about but no doubt, as always, all would soon be revealed.

As it happened, Solly had printed the document he had referred to and handed it to Priest, who quickly scanned it.

‘You’ve no idea where this came from?’ asked Priest when he finished.

‘I cannot say for certain, but I believe it came from the same individual that messages under the name USER3412,’ Solly replied. ‘Is it helpful?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Priest said, rubbing his head. ‘I’ll let you know.’ He got up.

‘Where are you going now?’ Solly enquired, picking up a packet of baby wipes and a bottle of supermarket own brand antibacterial spray.

‘To see my brother.’

‘Oh, of course, the notorious serial killer. How nice. Now, if you don’t mind I need to sanitise that chair you’ve been sitting on. Good day, Priest.’

*

Georgie skipped out of Priest & Co.’s office, waving cheerily to Maureen who winked at her from behind her desk. Outside, she took out her phone and rang Li.

‘Hi, it’s me,’ she said when Li picked up at the other end.

‘God, you’ve got good timing. I’m starving. Wanna grab something with me?’

‘Can we drive past Norwich on the way?’

Li didn’t respond at first, then said, ‘What?’

‘I know it’s inconvenient, I know it’s a long way, but you definitely said you weren’t doing anything today, so . . .’

‘Sure – it’ll be fun. Girls’ road trip. Actually, gives me an opportunity to meet an old acquaintance of mine that moved up there a few years ago.’

‘You’re a star, Li. I’ll be home in fifteen minutes.’

*

Norwich.

Elinor Fox narrowed her eyes. It had been difficult catching the whole of Georgie’s telephone conversation crouched in an alcove underneath the steps to the Priest & Co. office, but it had been enough.

I bet I know where you’re going.

She didn’t need to follow her anymore now. She knew where Georgie would end up. All she needed to do was retrieve the fish.