‘Do they have any idea who might have killed him?’

‘That’s why they were calling.’

Silas looks up.

‘Forensic ballistics has come back with some data on the bullet that was retrieved from the victim’s skull.’

‘Go on.’

Strover consults her notes.

‘According to NABIS, the only other bullet with barrel markings like this was fired in Thailand. Nine years ago.’

Silas sits back in his chair. The National Ballistics Intelligence Service specialises in firearms-related criminal activity in the UK. It normally only holds data on a case abroad if a UK citizen is involved in some way.

‘Remind me why I’ve heard about Thailand recently?’ he asks.

Strover throws him a scornful look. Unlike him, she never seems to forget anything. ‘One of the seven people in the world who looks like Kate’s new boyfriend was last seen in Thailand,’ she says. ‘The one who bears the closest resemblance.’

It’s probably nothing, but Thailand doesn’t often cross Silas’s desk in Swindon twice in one day.

‘Does your friend have more details yet?’ he asks. ‘A name would be useful. His age too.’

Strover turns to her laptop and starts typing.

‘And did NABIS have any other information?’ he adds, watching her.

‘Very little,’ she says. ‘The file just says the gun was fired in a drugs-related incident. No trace of it since.’

Strover has found the mugshot of the man in Thailand and adjusts her laptop screen so that Silas can see it.

‘A bit blurred,’ he says as she displays an adjacent image of Rob, Kate’s partner, ‘but it’s a striking likeness, isn’t it? Uncanny.’

‘Some more intel on him has just dropped,’ Strover says, opening up a new window on her screen. She freezes, her fingers suspended above the keyboard.

‘What’s the matter?’ Silas asks.

‘His name.’

‘And?’

She points to a line of small print on the screen. ‘Gilmour Martin.’

He stares at the words. It’s one of those moments when an investigation comes alive. The name matches the registered keeper of the Tesla that was seen by Kate’s gallery friend in her village. Kate asked them to check as she was worried that Rob might have been in Cornwall when he was meant to be in London. Silas is just not sure what this new lead means or where it will take them.

‘Do we know where he is now?’ he asks, eyes narrowing. Gilmour Martin is not a common name.

Strover shakes her head. ‘Last seen in Thailand nine years ago,’ she says, reading from the screen. ‘Police took his picture because he was involved in some sort of disturbance at a beach party. Subsequently released without charge. Bit of a loser, by all accounts.’