James was pleased to see that the charity shop was open. They parked the car around the corner and walked back to the small shop, which sold everything from used books to second-hand clothes. There were no customers when they entered, but a grey-haired woman who was probably in her sixties was stacking shelves.

James went straight up to her and introduced himself.

‘Is this about poor Charlotte?’ she asked, her voice laced with despair.

‘It is,’ he said.

She hesitated a weighty second before she found her voice again.

‘I’ve been wondering if the police would drop by,’ she said. ‘It’s all so upsetting. I cried when I heard the news. She was due back in today and I can’t believe I won’t see her again.’

Her face was drawn and pale and there were dark circles under her eyes.

She gave her name as Fiona McCarthy and told them that she last saw Charlotte on Christmas Eve.

‘She was fine when she left here and told me she was going to spend Christmas with her parents and boyfriend.’

‘And how long had she worked here?’ Abbott asked her.

‘Just over two and a half months,’ Fiona said. ‘She used to work at a local factory but lost her job when they made cutbacks. We had a vacancy for a paid member of staff and she applied for it and was taken on.’

‘We’re trying to find out as much as we can about the Bateman family, so what can you tell us about Charlotte?’ James said.

Fiona pursed her lips. ‘Well, she was a good worker, but at the same time she was clearly a troubled individual.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Her moods were so unpredictable. One day she would be bright and cheerful and the next she’d be morose and would hardly speak to me. Take a few weeks ago, for example. I came back from lunch and caught her sobbing in the office out back. She was holding an envelope and when I asked her why she was so upset she said it was because she’d received some bad news to do with her family. I asked her what it was but she didn’t want to tell me and I didn’t push it.’

‘That’s certainly something we’ll try to find out more about,’ James said. ‘Is there anything else you can tell us about her?’

‘Only that she did seem to have problems in her private life, but again she wouldn’t open up about it.’

James pressed her. ‘Can you be more specific?’