‘I can assure you he won’t be answering any calls. Mr Evans has been found deceased at another location. We need access to his room and maybe a chat with any members of staff that had contact with him.’

‘De … Oh my goodness! I mean, of course … I’ll show you.’ The woman scrabbled on her desk and in drawers. Her movements were rushed now, hasty. She knocked over a pen pot and dropped the key she was trying to push into a cabinet and tutted. When the cabinet did open she took a plastic card out and was instantly striding away from the desk. ‘It’s this way. Room eighteen.’ She gestured at a fire door to her left. A long, slim panel of glass showed only a darkened corridor behind. Both officers had to do a little jog to catch her up.

‘Eighteen,’ the woman repeated after marching the length of an aggressively patterned carpet.

‘Wonderful. Would you mind …?’ Joel said, leaving the question open for the woman to get the hint. It took a few moments; she clearly intended to come in for a look herself.

‘Oh! Of course! Tell me, can I get you a tea or coffee?’

‘No, thank you. Hopefully we won’t be here long. Much to the relief of my colleague – she has a bit of a phobia about these sorts of places.’ His grin widened at DS Rose’s obvious embarrassment.

‘Yes, well, they’re not for everyone,’ the woman said before making her way back towards reception.

‘Oh, could I just ask …’ Joel called out, waiting for the woman to stop and turn. ‘I mentioned staff members. Is there anyone that had more contact than others with Danny Evans? Anyone that might have an insight?’

‘The bar,’ the woman replied without hesitation. ‘I think he spent a lot of his time over there.’

‘Thank you,’ Joel said, but she had already spun away.

‘She definitely thinks I’m weird now,’ DS Rose said.

‘We’re here to look round a dead man’s room,’ Joel said. ‘We do a weird job.’ He lifted the card to rest against the sensor. He had to push a Do Not Disturb hanger out of the way to get to it. The sensor flashed red and hissed at him twice to deny him access, but the third time was a charm.

Joel’s immediate action was not to step in. Instead, he turned to lock eyes with DS Rose. Opening the door had stoked up an odour that he knew all too well: death. Usually it was an overwhelming smell that could roll out of an open door like an assault, but here it was a little more subtle. He trapped the door open to survey the room. The window was directly opposite. A blackout blind was doing its job with just the merest hint of daylight at the bottom. He reached in to flick a light switch. Nothing happened.