Whatever or whoever Chris had been expecting, it quite obviously wasn’t a detective wanting to ask questions. He stammered a couple of times, then nodded a little too enthusiastically and showed him inside. Mark walked through into what he assumed was the living room and turned to see him still standing by the front door. ‘You can come back inside with me, it’s okay.’

‘I probably shouldn’t have let you in,’ Chris said, seeming smaller now, even as the muscles on his biceps struggled to be contained. ‘My mum and dad are both out.’

‘That’s okay. I think you’ll want this conversation to be between us for now.’

Chris was still hovering in the doorway, seemingly lost in the strange direction his morning had suddenly taken. The room smelled of lavender and Lynx Africa, the television in the corner paused in the middle of a game of FIFA. Mark sat down on the smaller of two sofas, taking up most of the space, even with his small stature. Eventually Chris was sitting down on the opposite seat, putting his controller on the table.

‘What’s this about then?’

Mark took a few seconds, then began taking printouts out of the black folder he’d been carrying. ‘It’s about these communications you sent a few months ago.’

Chris took the sheets of paper from him as Mark leaned across to hand them over. He began reading them, a look of confusion sweeping across his face as he did so. Mark spoke as he continued to scour them. ‘I’m investigating the disappearance of Emily Burns. I gather you know who that is.’

‘I don’t understand…’

‘It’s quite simple really,’ Mark said, placing the folder back in his lap and staring at Chris as he talked. ‘Emily has gone missing in suspicious circumstances and we’re looking into all aspects of her life. It seems you’ve had some interaction with her in the past. I’d like to talk about that with you.’

‘I don’t even know her,’ Chris said, but his voice was quieter now. The semblance of confidence he’d been holding on to evaporated with each passing second.

‘Really? That’s strange, as it looks to me like you were speaking to her for a long time. The first messages you exchanged with her were over a year ago now.’

‘No, I mean, I… I didn’t really know her at all.’

‘You’ve said that. Yet, it looks like you were in some kind of online relationship for quite a while. It didn’t end well though, did it?’

Chris hesitated, clearly working out if he should continue the lie. Finally, he spoke. ‘No.’

‘I think the last message you sent was “If I ever see you on the street I’ll push you into the road in front of a car.” That sound about right?’