Danny looked round for something that might help. A knife, an axe, anything that he could cut him down with. As he searched, his eyes fell back on the typed sheet that was at an angle on the floor from when the zip had been opened.

DANNY. YOU WILL NEED TO BE CALM AND YOU WILL NEED TO READ.

He picked the folder up and turned it back over:

O1 made first contact with V5. As with previous behaviours, O1 posed as a younger male and claimed to have an interest in football. It would be obvious from the material V5 displayed on social media that football was among her interests. A bond formed quickly and, as we have seen before, O1 soon moved the subject matter to that of a sexual nature.

V5 resisted at first. It appears to have taken O1 a far longer time to convince V5 to share photos at all, and photos of an explicit nature only followed when she was sent examples that V1, V3 and V4 had supplied. This is behaviour that O1 has also demonstrated in other cases, the desire and ability to ‘normalise’ the sending of explicit materials, while labelling them as ‘art’ and claiming it to be ‘what friends do’.

V5 submitted a photo in a state of undress. Again, O1’s behaviour followed the previous pattern and the nature of his messaging became far more pressured until he received an image that was suitable for his needs. At this point, O1 immediately threatened to share this photo if V5 did not meet his further demands.

The page ran out. Danny shook his head like it might clear it. He’d never seen this report before, never heard anything like it from the police. Where had it come from? All they really knew was what Callie had told them – she’d been blackmailed online for pictures and she didn’t know who it was. That was it. The police had said there was nothing left on her phone that helped. She’d restored it to factory settings – the police said there was nothing they could do with it. Callie said she was told to do it as part of the threats towards her. But a private investigator had been able to get more, he’d been able to get answers.

He looked up, back at the seated man. He was so tense that he felt like his jaw was locked tight, like he was the one restrained and not the man in front of him. He was finally able to speak.

‘You know what this is?’ Danny’s words rasped from a dry throat. The man was silent now and his wide eyes looked heavy with moisture. ‘I think I might know what this is. If I’m right, then I think I might know who you are, why you’re here.’ Danny gestured with the folder. ‘Like this. Is that why you’re crying? Do you know who I am?’

Danny broke away to turn the page and continue reading: