‘Not at all.’

Jackman took out his phone and took two shots of the photo. ‘Perfect, thank you.’

‘Any luck with Helen?’ asked Marie.

‘She’s on her way. I knew she’d come. She’s a good woman, full of heart.’

So much heart she took your husband away from you, mmm? ‘Good. I’ll make arrangements for our support officer, and then we must get back to the station.’

‘You said he’d done this before, DI Jackman.’

‘Yes.’

‘Did he steal photographs?’

‘Yes, Mrs Harper. He did.’

‘Of young boys?’ Her eyes were narrow, flinty.

‘Well, this is an ongoing investigation, so we’d be obliged if you kept this to yourself, but yes, it appears that way.’ He returned her hard gaze. ‘So I suggest that until we either apprehend this man or have some answers, you do not have Jason to stay here.’

‘You don’t have to tell me that! Jason’s coming nowhere near here. This animal’s a paedo, isn’t he? He’s after children.’

Marie touched her arm gently. ‘Mrs Harper, it may not be that. We aren’t at liberty to give you all the details, but it’s a rather complicated case. We only suggested you keep Jason away as a precaution. If the suspect follows his usual pattern, you’ll never see him again. Just keep an open mind if you can.’

‘And above all, please do not mention paedophiles to anyone, or you could jeopardise the case. Work with us if you want him found and brought to justice.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘Of course I will, but will you keep me informed of what is going on?’

Jackman said, ‘We will, I promise, and I’m sorry we can’t say more at this stage, but you will be brought up to date very soon.’

Twenty minutes later the liaison officer arrived, along with Helen, and Jackman and Marie were able to leave.

‘Oh my! I need to get back to the factory and get a bloody strong coffee inside me,’ said Marie.

‘You’ve forgotten something,’ Jackman said. ‘That’s two bloody strong coffees.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

At around eleven o’clock Marie re-joined Jackman in his office, and they went over what they had achieved that morning.

‘Stacey and Jay have ascertained that Ratty didn’t go wandering last night,’ said Marie, pulling up a chair. ‘So it wasn’t him breathing all over the sleeping Mrs Harper. Ma Jones wasn’t well, and several of their neighbours saw him there, looking after her. Stacey says he’s scared shitless over his rival interloper.’

‘Apart from the fact that he’s probably never even heard of deodorant, what’s been going on is way beyond Ratty’s remit, isn’t it?’ Jackman said. ‘With the exception of the way he gets into the houses. That’s creepy.’

‘So is having some wingnut lurking in your boudoir in the dead of night,’ said Marie. ‘Those poor women will be living in fear, probably sleeping with a light on for months or years. If they sleep at all.’

Jackman leaned forward. ‘Any theories as to why our man is doing this? And why the pictures? Why just take them?’ He produced several prints of Jason Harper’s portrait and pushed one across the table.