“Why not? There’s no evidence to say otherwise. It would make more sense, actually, for it to be her, because Constance A had a kid to look after, which could be considered a deterrent. Maybe Constance B did him in, then a couple of hours later Constance A went round to his place and found him like that.”

“We don’t even know if B was in Gregor’s flat. She could have come from a different neighborhood. We have her on camera at the tram stop, but not in the actual estate, correct?”

“Yes,” said Eddie, “but …”

“Whereas,” she said, turning to face him, her face a picture of calm, “we do have a positive ID for Constance A, from the neighbor. A was in the building. Not B.”

Atkinson said, “The neighbor didn’t ID Constance A, boss. She heard someone say the word Leonie, and that was days before the attack. Hardly hard evidence. She never saw either of them. She couldn’t have.”

“Well, no, but A is the one who carried the child from the block. The neighbor might not have seen her with Leonie, but the camera on the estate did. And A is the one we have on camera getting the train at the later time. All we have on B, the lighter-haired one, is footage of her at the tram stop, showing that she’s wearing similar clothes and heading for the same place, albeit by a completely different route.”

“They’re working together,” said Atkinson. “The outfits prove it. The lighter-haired one is a person of interest and should be a potential suspect. For the assault and for child abduction. She was in the right place for the assault, and she definitely took that child. But we don’t know why.”

“The outfits prove nothing. And, yes, she took the child. Maybe it’s her child,” said Harper, trying to appear reasonable but sounding snippier than she would have liked, and surprising even herself at what she was suggesting. There was no way it was Ruby’s child.

“Hang on, she can’t belong to both of them. You were the one who prioritized the kid as high risk, boss, based on the assumption that it wasn’t B’s child. I thought that was still the working theory? Unless there’s something you’re not telling me?”

“Of course not,” she said, reminding herself to stay calm, wondering again if it was time to come clean. No, not now, not with Eddie in the room. “I’m just tired—sorry. Not much sleep last night. You’re absolutely right, it could have been either or both of them. Or neither. We’ll stick to the working theory. Until more evidence presents itself.”