The faces behind the masks of those working in the tent looked blank and uncompromising. He knew that’s the way they had to be, but not for the first time, he wondered if a career in welding or topiary would be more his thing.

‘You’ve looked at her picture more than we have,’ DS Cavanagh said, bringing Mark back to the real world. ‘Does it look like her?’

Mark made a show of leaning forward for a closer look, but didn’t really take much in. ‘It does. Damn. I was hoping this was going to be one of those rare times we had good news for one family, at least.’

‘Have you got very far in tracing her movements?’

‘Not really,’ Mark replied, taking the opportunity to turn his back and make a show of looking around the rest of the area. ‘It was three nights ago that she left the house and was seen further up the road. Makes you wonder where she was the rest of the time. But the CCTV didn’t show her leaving the yard where the blood was found.’

‘You think this happened last night?’

‘That’d be my guess. What about you?’

Cavanagh scratched the thick beard covering half his face. ‘I don’t know. It’s not an easily accessed area. She could have been sitting on that roof for a couple of days, I suppose. Working up the courage, maybe? We’ve worked stranger cases.’

‘Yeah, I guess,’ Mark said, but didn’t feel confident. ‘I hoped this wasn’t going to be where I ended up with this one.’

There was a moment when he thought Cavanagh was going to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he seemed to think better of it.

‘That’s how it goes sometimes,’ Cavanagh said instead, placing his hands in his trouser pockets slowly. ‘There’ll be other cases for you, though. Ones with a better ending. You couldn’t help this girl. Doesn’t mean there won’t be others out there you can help.’

Mark nodded without conviction, thinking of the family Emily had left behind. The faces he would soon have to visit and deliver the news to.

‘Maybe it’s not her,’ Mark said, but even he didn’t believe it now. Cavanagh gave him a grimace and walked away to talk to someone else on the scene, leaving Mark alone. He thought of Emily’s mother, the way she was already struggling to face reality. The sullen younger brother, Charlie, who would retreat even further into himself now, he guessed.

He thought of Stephanie. Hoped this wouldn’t break her. Knew it probably would. He could feel the weight of responsibility weighing him down, but also knew his role in all of this would soon be over. There’d be an inquest, where he’d have to explain his actions, but it would be a formality, he hoped.