Gillard frowned, as he read the letter written by Mrs Roy to the agency. ‘He’s not married. What on earth is illicit about him having a girlfriend? I mean I know some Asian families are quite conservative, but really, the man was already in his thirties.’

‘Still, it seems to be what she is saying.’

‘I suppose it’s an issue now he’s getting an arranged marriage to someone that presumably they do approve of?’

Townsend shrugged. ‘I’m not saying it is relevant to the case, but it is interesting.’

Gillard thanked him and left the room, now in danger of being late. As he did so his phone rang. It was DI Claire Mulholland.

‘Claire, what have you got?’ he asked, as he climbed the stairs two at a time.

‘Hi Craig. The lab has managed to identify the make of the cyclist’s training shoe from its indentation in the snow at the crime scene. They’re run-of-the-mill Adidas trainers.’

‘That’s not going to help unless we find the very same shoes in the possession of a suspect.’

‘Likewise with the fibres found on the dog’s muzzle. They are a bog-standard mixture of polyester and cotton, grey. They are a basic match to dozens of brands of jogging bottoms in hundreds of stores. The lab says we can get Staffordshire University to do a more detailed analysis, but it will take time.’

‘OK. Go for it. We want all the details we can get.’

Chief Constable Alison Rigby was on a long conference call when Gillard arrived outside her office, and he had to wait almost twenty minutes before going in. The detective chief inspector knew what kind of reception he was going to get when he saw half a dozen newspapers on her coffee table, each of which was open at an article about the mysterious murder of Mrs Roy.

‘Take a seat, Craig,’ she said, indicating the low chairs around the coffee table. ‘I have been looking at the coverage of the crime, which seems to be highly speculative. Have you seen all these?’

‘No, I have been a little bit too busy to try to keep up to date with everything they are saying. One thing is apparent. They have a great many more people to throw at this than I do.’

Rigby locked eyes with him. She was a handsome woman, six foot two inches tall, and her enormous pale blue eyes, rimmed in dark eyeliner, were almost magnetic. Her gaze was known as the blue stare of death and intimidated even the most senior and experienced officers.

‘Actually, considering the resource constraints we are operating under I have been extremely generous in resources for you. I may be able to give you a little more but in exchange I would certainly like to see some solid progress. Did you see this?’ She passed across the Daily Telegraph, folded to show a business article, which had been circled in highlighter pen.

Britain’s premier food magnate Johnny Lam has again said that he is willing to buy Empire of Spice Plc for a generous price if the family are willing to sell. Lam, whose own company Hong Kong & International Cuisine is the biggest distributor of ethnic food to Britain’s restaurant trade, has reiterated that EoS would make a good fit with his other businesses. ‘I’m in contact with members of Mrs Roy’s family at the moment. Although they are very upset by what has happened, they will at least be able to sleep at night knowing that the business is in good and capable hands,’ he told us.