Max and Charlie had the task of going through the notes provided by Annie, her son and the women’s group. They had summarised the women’s stories and were now trying to correlate these with actual evidence, which they would then collate and cross-check with the intelligence they already had.

The whole room resounded with the clamour of animated conversation, phones ringing and printers whirring, and with every new development, Jackman would update the whiteboards. He had already reorganised one of them, putting everything under the name JORDAN SPILLER in large capital letters. This was intended to focus the team on their goal and indicated that they were moving ahead.

Just as he was adding another piece of information, he saw Laura walk past the entrance on her way up to see Ruth Crooke. He was disturbed by the look of anxiety on her face.

‘Boss? Got a mo?’

Max had raised his hand. Jackman crossed to his workstation and looked over his shoulder. ‘Very impressive. You guys have turned what looked like an article from a chat magazine into a proper investigative report.’

‘Thanks, boss, but you should see what we’re uncovering. Charlie and I reckon that all these women had dealings with Claire and her son, even if they didn’t realise it. I very much doubt that they were randomly selected by Spiller in his guise as the Sky man. He was sourcing specific women who had close ties, blood or otherwise, to young boys who were approximately ten years of age at the time he and his wife split up, and who were connected to his son in some way. What we don’t know is why.’

‘And how he seems to know about all these people,’ added Charlie. ‘That’s the real puzzle. Where did he get all their names and addresses from?’

‘It’s like someone else was keeping a close eye on them, and then feeding it all back to Spiller,’ said Max. ‘But if that was the case, then why the hell didn’t he act at the time? Why wait until now?’ He shook his head. ‘Beats me, that’s for sure.’

Before Jackman could answer, PC Jay Acharya burst in and hurried across to him. ‘Sir! We’ve just had a call from Saltern St Matthew’s School. One of their pupils is missing.’

Jackman stiffened. ‘Do we have a name, Jay?’

‘Yes, sir. Davy Frances. One of the boys from the photos he stole. It’s Natalie Miles’s nephew.’

A silence fell over the whole room. It had started.

Jackman closed his eyes briefly. ‘This is what we dreaded might happen. Okay, everyone. Listen. Marie and I will attend. And while we’re out, I want you all to work your arses off looking for everything you can find on Spiller and where the hell he might be. Robbie, go tell the super. Say I’ll ring her the moment I know what’s occurring.’