‘Just remember what happened the last time you played, Steven,’ Mary said.

Grant sighed. ‘Of course, darling. How could I possibly forget?’

Chapter Sixteen

Dani had concluded the interview with Rebecca and Laura, securing their reluctant agreement to return to view the body. Even though they weren’t family, and didn’t even know the dead girl’s full name in order to provide a definitive ID, at least if they formally confirmed that Jane Doe was who they thought, the investigation could be honed. After swapping thoughts with Easton and sending him off to follow up on the snippets of info they now had for their potential victim, Dani headed straight from the interview room to McNair’s office to update her.

Although they’d spoken briefly on the phone earlier, Dani hadn’t seen her boss at all since after the press conference the previous day, and as she knocked and waited outside the door, she wondered whether she would still be in disgrace.

‘Come in,’ came McNair’s raised voice.

Dani opened the door. McNair had a neutral look on her face. Not a bad result, Dani figured.

‘I need to update you,’ Dani said.

‘Go ahead. Sit down.’

Dani did so. The room fell silent as Dani wondered whether to just dive in or to say something about their argument.

‘So?’

Well, if McNair was happy to gloss over it, then so was Dani.

‘We have a lead. Two, actually. We have a name for our Jane Doe. Natalya. Easton and I have just been speaking to two of her friends.’

‘Natalya? Natalya what?’

‘That’s the thing. We’re not sure yet. It’s possibly not her real name at all. From what we’ve learned she was an escort, and very possibly an illegal immigrant from Europe.’

McNair’s face screwed up, the way it often did. ‘This is a lead?’

‘I genuinely think so. We have an address for Natalya. Easton is on it. But there’s more. We were given the name of a guy she was known to hang around with. Jimmy. But—’

‘Just Jimmy? What is this, Stephens?’

‘Just bear with me. Yes, we were only given the name Jimmy. But we were told he’s a low-level drug dealer.’

‘You think that’s what this is about?’

‘Possibly. But there is a link to another missing woman.’

Dani saw McNair’s features pick up.

‘Yesterday we attended the house of the parents of Grace Agnew who went missing near central Birmingham very recently. We thought maybe she was Jane Doe, but her parents were adamant she isn’t. There’s no hint of where Grace has gone. When we asked the parents what they thought could have happened to Grace, they talked about her lowlife ex-boyfriend. A Paul Reeve.’

‘Finally, two people with surnames.’

‘And we’ve found his ID. We got a picture of him. When we showed it to Natalya’s friends…’