Solly disappeared through a door in the back which led to goodness-knows-where. There can’t be many possibilities on a fifteen-foot houseboat. A torture chamber, maybe? Oh, how silly! He does his torturing in the front room.

Priest’s phone buzzed and he found he had received a text from Jessica:

‘Did you get my message about tonight?’

He tapped a quick response:

‘Yes. See you at 7 at my place.’

A kiss to finish? A smiley face? Damn it, what?

In the end, he settled for a ‘thumbs-up’ emoji. The lameness of it made him wince, even before he hit SEND. He closed his eyes. Saw her face: her thin lips, pale skin, high cheekbones. Hardly any make-up, her features made their own mark. She was classically beautiful – her chestnut hair, and bright irises threaded with amber brought her an ethereal quality. She was everything he had ever wanted: fiercely intelligent, radiant, elegant; and everything he deserved: cold, brusque, ruthless.

He stared at his phone. Waited for a reply – anything, but it didn’t come. When he looked up, shaken from the daydream, Solly was waving the photograph at him.

‘No joy, I’m afraid, Priest. Which means this was an original image and not one readily available on the internet.’

His heart sank. What hope had they of identifying the boy? The photograph might be nothing to do with the Elias case – they could be on a complete tangent, wasting valuable time. They had to have something usable by Monday or there was no chance Peters would allow an adjournment. Then The Real Byte would be ruined, Alexia Elias would come out a heroine and Simeon would still be dead, needlessly. Fuck it.

‘Thanks anyway, Solly,’ Priest said, making for the door.

‘Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.’

Solly opened the door – a gust of cold air hit Priest, compounding the anxiety eating away at him. What do I do now?

He started to gather up his personal belongings and put his shoes back on. ‘See you later, Solly.’

‘Yes. Bye, Priest. Curious, though, wasn’t it?’

He stopped and turned to look at Solly. ‘What’s curious?’

‘Why the unknown boy is standing outside Alexia and Dominque Elias’s former home.’

Priest waited a few moments, letting Solly’s assertion sink in and mix around with the rest of the confused musings cluttering up his head.

‘Say that again,’ Priest requested.

‘It’s quite simple,’ Solly explained. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on it, Priest.’

‘Go on.’

‘Well, I recognised the house in its ruined state immediately but I couldn’t place it at first until I checked the Elias papers – I have an exact replica of my office at the front of the boat, including all documents, of course – and there are pictures of Alexia in one of the disclosure bundles. She is standing outside her former home in Norfolk. The property is the same, undoubtedly.’

‘Show me.’