When Rebecca Hargreaves finally arrived, she wasn’t alone, bringing a friend – Laura Finlay – for support. While Dani would object to such a companion in a more formal interview, she wanted Rebecca to be open and at ease so didn’t question it. Dani knew that the DCs on her team were more than capable of carrying out an interview like this one, but she was still feeling rusty and thought it would be good to immerse herself in the nitty-gritty of the investigation, until she felt properly acclimatized to her job once again. If that point ever came.

Easton brought the two young ladies to the room. Rebecca was pale, her skin almost translucent. The only colour anywhere on her face were her bloodshot eyes, and the dark eye make-up surrounding them. It was clear she’d been crying. Dani, in a strange way, felt optimistic, seeing Rebecca so distraught. It suggested that perhaps this was a fruitful lead after all.

‘Rebecca, thank you for coming to see us,’ Dani said, getting to her feet. ‘I’m DI Stephens, please take a seat.’

Rebecca looked around the room nervously as Easton came and sat down next to Dani. The two young women took their seats somewhat awkwardly. Easton had briefed Dani on the small amount of information he had found about Rebecca on her Facebook profile, so she knew she was twenty-one and a waitress in a bar. She looked younger than twenty-one, though, maybe only sixteen or seventeen, with a painfully thin frame and long spindly arms and legs. Her eye make-up was so dark it was like looking into two black holes. Her straight hair was a clash of black and pink and blue. Dani thought the look would be described as ‘emo’ although she wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly.

Her friend sported a similar look. Both girls’ eyes had thick bags underneath them and they were twitchy, not really focusing on anything. Together with their swollen nostrils and overall washed-out appearance, Dani felt she knew what it all added up to. There were no needle marks on these girls’ arms, so Dani doubted they were heroin addicts, but they probably took all manner of other substances, legal and illegal: alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, coke, meth, ecstasy.

Dani noticed Rebecca’s eyes fix on the one-way mirror.

‘There’s no one behind there,’ Dani assured her.

‘Are you recording this?’ Rebecca asked.

‘No. This isn’t a formal interview, Rebecca. Not yet.’

‘Not yet?’

‘We’re at an early stage of the investigation. We’ll take notes of what’s said here, of course, but there’s no need to take a full recording. You have nothing to worry about in speaking to us today, we’re not here to trick you. We just want to find out what you know. We can take a formal statement at a later time if we think it necessary.’