‘We’d like to borrow this phone, if we may,’ Claire said. ‘It won’t take long, but will allow us to trace him.’

Angie looked outraged. ‘No, it’s not all right! Look, I’ve told you it’s not him. He’s in Madrid, you’ve got the wrong man. And this ridiculous suggestion that a man like this would choose, would even need to choose, a schoolgirl, as if he’s some kind of paedophile. Kyle could have any woman he chose, and he chose me.’ She tapped the middle of her chest. ‘Anyway, you said yourself you don’t even know what your suspect looks like.’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘You most certainly did.’ Ms Wright had worked herself up into quite a lather, and held out a well-manicured hand, as if Claire was going to return the phone.

‘Ms Wright, we do have a warrant. But it would be better if you cooperate. The phone can be back with you within an hour once we’ve extracted the data.’

‘So I’ve got no choice.’ She stood up, and ruffed out her hair.

Claire gave the nod to the female officer, who opened the door. ‘You’re free to leave, Ms Wright, but you cannot go home yet.’

‘Why?’

Claire looked at her watch. ‘Because fifteen minutes ago we obtained a warrant to search your house too. Officers will already have effected an entry, and will be searching for evidence. Anything taken will be receipted of course, and we will pay for any damage to locks.’

The woman stared at Claire for a long half minute. ‘You’re an ugly bitch. He wouldn’t even look at you.’

‘Given what he is capable of, that would be a huge relief,’ Claire said.

The female officer escorted Angie out, and returned with a cup of coffee for Claire. ‘Nasty piece of work, her,’ she said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder.

‘It’s understandable. We’ve just punctured her bubble of romantic perfection, so she’s hitting back. She put a brave face on it, but she knows we’re right.’

‘It’s not true, you know.’

Claire looked up from her paperwork. ‘What?’

‘You’ve got a lovely face. And you’re nice on the inside too. Just saying.’

Claire smiled. ‘Thank you.’

The pictures retrieved from Ellen Bramley’s phone were if anything poorer quality than those from Angie Wright’s. But as Claire Mulholland put them all up together on a screen, it became clear that Gabriel Hallam was Kyle Halliday. But Gary Harrison, Sam’s old ex, had only a partial resemblance to either of them.

‘Come and have a look at this, sir,’ she called to DCS Raj Otara as he walked past her in the incident room. She pointed out the resemblance and then added, ‘But Harrison looks like a brother or something. The teeth are completely different.’

Otara stroked his beard. ‘There’s a scar on the jawline of Hallam and Halliday, but not on Harrison.’

‘Do you think he’s had surgery?’ she asked. ‘Some kind of cosmetic procedure?’

‘If he has it’s pretty substantial, because the shape of his jaw is quite a lot more pronounced now.’