‘I’m not proud of what happened. I couldn’t have you being suspicious of me. I could tell that you knew straight away I was lying. I hadn’t factored in that you would be older and smarter. I just needed to distract you enough until I got proof.’

‘It’s easy to fake a photo if you know what you’re doing. How do I know this isn’t all part of some bizarre scam or something? You haven’t exactly been honest with me from the get-go. If this photo is what you say it is, and my father supposedly killed your fiancée, then why didn’t you go to the police once you had the proof? Why did you stay here?’

‘I watched your family as much as I could from the outside. Once I knew I was on the right track with your parents I became friends with them and made them trust me.’

‘So everything about you is a lie? You’re not this wonderful man who goes round helping people in need, it’s all part of the act to get to my father?’

‘I’m not a bad person, he is,’ he snapped, rubbing at his temples as though he were trying to clear his thoughts, get them in order. He seemed confused now, less convinced of the truth he was trying to sell her.

She could tell he hadn’t anticipated this much resistance from her. He was desperate for her to believe him, without question. He was becoming unhinged. She needed to get out of that room, and soon.

‘I don’t want to hear this. You have to start being honest with me. You have to tell me if you killed Mr Morrell. Did you go back and hurt him?’ She spoke softly; she wanted him to think of her as an ally, as someone he could trust. She had to get out of there; if he thought she was going to run and tell the police then he would never let her go.

‘I swear, I didn’t. I wouldn’t.’

‘So, he really did kill himself?’

‘Maybe, or maybe your father helped him. I do believe he loves you, Jasmine, as much as he is capable of loving anything,’ he said. He seemed to be calming down. The less she resisted him the more chance she had of getting out of there alive.

‘So what do we do now?’ she asked, not only wondering about the immediate situation but about what he might have planned next.

‘I want you to help me.’

‘Help you do what?’

‘Find out who all these girls are. The photos were all jumbled together in the box and so there are no dates to go by. There’s no information whatsoever, in fact. Just girl after girl, butchered as if she meant nothing. Your father did that.’