‘The card,’ DS Rose said, pointing at a slot on the wall. He pushed the card in and the light was instant. Joel moved in. The bed was at the far end, just far enough away from the window that one could walk around it. It was made. The bedside cabinets were empty of any clutter, and a dresser against the wall that faced the foot of the bed was tidy too. The only thing to suggest the room was even in use was a packed suitcase standing on its end by the far wall.

‘And he’s been in this room for two weeks, has he?’

‘A little over,’ DS Rose said.

‘Keeps it tidy, doesn’t he?’

‘Shame about the smell.’ DS Rose turned to the bathroom as she spoke – the only place left to search. Joel led the way. The door was next to where they had come into the room and was closed. He pushed it open to reveal more darkness. The light switch was on the outside. He pushed it and the noise of a fan squeaking to life was instant.

‘Shit!’ Joel hastily reached for the isolator switch that would turn the fan off. He’d learned that from experience. His CSI colleagues would not thank him for starting up something that was designed to suck traces out of a room.

‘Boss …’ DS Rose had stepped in ahead of him. Joel joined her. She had been blocking the view of the shower tray. She stepped aside. ‘What the hell is that?’

Chapter 40

Julia Kerner pushed the grand front door shut behind Sharon, who took a moment as she stepped back out into the bright sunshine. The sound of the gurgling stream in the grounds of the Abbey was still there to greet her, as was the warmth from weak sunshine on her face. She felt a little better than an hour earlier when the sun had been on her back to push her into the house. She hadn’t said much more, it had mostly been crying into the shoulders of people she barely knew, who had, in turn, whispered in her ear about how she was so strong. She didn’t feel it. Far from it. Just the thought of Jamie coming home from school was almost enough to floor her. She knew he would come straight in and ask after his sister, his expression one of hope that a normal family life was getting closer every day. She was going to have to be the one to snatch that hope away for ever.