‘No harm in being careful,’ the taller of the two men said. ‘My name is PC Robert Doyle and this–’ he indicated the other officer ‘–is PC Joe Grant.’ When Jodie made no move to wave them in, he smiled slightly. ‘May we come in?’

Colour flared across Jodie’s cheeks. ‘Yes, of course.’ She stood back and indicated the sitting-room door. ‘We can sit through there. Would you like a drink?’

‘No, thank you.’ Doyle appeared to be the officer in charge, it was certainly he who did all the talking.

The two men were big, muscular rather than fat, tall and broad, and they filled the small room. They perched on the edge of the sofa as Jodie sat on the small chair in the corner opposite.

Doyle took out his notebook, flicked it open, then shut it again. ‘You received a nasty package in the post?’

Jodie frowned and shook her head. ‘No, not in the post. It was left hanging on the doorknob. There have been others, two others, but they had little shoes inside… baby shoes… this one was…’ She held her hand over her mouth and gulped frantically.

The two officers, with the air of men who’d seen it all before, waited patiently, as she tried to get herself under control. ‘Take your time,’ Doyle said.

Jodie shook her head. Words were too difficult. ‘I’ll show you.’

She led the way to the kitchen, her hand hesitating on the door handle. What if there was nothing there? With so much stress recently, had she imagined it all? ‘It’s been a strange few weeks,’ she said, turning to look at the men who stood too close behind her. Suddenly claustrophobic, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. ‘There.’ It was almost a relief to see it still on the draining board, to know it was real.

It looked so innocent. Such a pretty shade of blue. From the doorway, the staining wasn’t visible. Nor was the content.

When she didn’t move, Doyle squeezed past and crossed the room. He peered inside. ‘All I can see is paper,’ he said, pulling a disposable glove from his pocket. He slipped it on and slowly moved the wrapping back. ‘Ah.’

Only one word, but it was enough to make Grant put a hand on Jodie’s arm to move her to one side.

His reaction to the contents was more dramatic than his partner’s. He reared back. ‘Bloody hell.’

Doyle turned to Jodie. ‘Do you have the other items that were sent?’

‘Yes, I’ll get them.’

A few minutes later, the two officers were examining the baby shoes.

‘And these are the ones given to me by Victor Hill.’ Jodie pushed the box forward.

Doyle opened the box and took them out, the shoes tiny in his big hands. ‘And they were never used?’ He looked at Jodie curiously.