Most likely a search of that nature would be carried out by the in-house team of data analysts, though responsibility for ensuring that happened was stated on the system as belonging to DI Barnes.

She again looked at the map. Those units were several streets away from where Natalya was killed, and it certainly wasn’t a straight route from A to B given the only previous CCTV image they’d found of her. But it also wasn’t an unthinkable route, given that she was literally running for her life.

Dani sat back in the chair as her brain raced. Was that the lead Jason was now following?

She picked up her phone. Still no calls or messages from him. She bit the bullet and called him again. Still no answer. Her call went straight to voicemail.

She sent him a message.

We need to talk. Something’s happened.

Would he see that as a cry for help from her and feel duty bound to call back?

There was no immediate response. What was he doing?

Unable to set her mind at ease, Dani was soon back rummaging through the case files. But she was only wasting time now. She couldn’t get thoughts of Natalya out of her mind. And what about the other missing women? Grace Agnew? Jessica Bradford? Were they still alive?

Natalya had been bound. She’d been running for her life when she was killed. Finding where she’d been kept wasn’t just important for finding the murderer, it was important for finding any victims who were still alive.

Dani couldn’t sit there knowing even a few minutes might make all the difference.

Five minutes later Dani was back in her car and heading out of the city centre once more with the address in Moseley plugged into her sat nav. The traffic, past midnight, was light and the journey took all of ten minutes before Dani pulled into a small industrial estate that consisted of just five units erected with breeze blocks and corrugated steel. Not surprisingly given the time, there were no indications of life within any of the premises. Dani glanced at the signage above each unit and soon found the one she was looking for. She gasped when she spotted the single car parked up outside. Jason’s.

She checked her phone again. Still nothing from him.

What the hell was he doing here?

She called Jason again. Straight to voicemail. She really wasn’t liking the situation at all.

Should she call for backup?

No. She couldn’t. Who would she call and what would she say?

She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and then stepped from the car. She went around to the boot and opened it up, taking out the socket wrench from the small toolkit next to the spare tyre. It was better than nothing, and she still couldn’t be sure what she was about to walk in on.