‘She says there weren’t any, which leads me to believe that the killer used a gun with a silencer. And that suggests it was the work of a pro.’

‘How many shots were fired?’ I asked.

‘Three. A bullet in the chest and two in the face. So be warned – he’s not a pretty sight.’

As he spoke I could feel the horror closing in around me and bile rose in my throat.

In my mind’s eye I saw Prentiss as he’d been the day before. The proud father, all smiles as he showed me a picture of his baby. Little Josh. The boy would now grow up never knowing his father who was shot on the day he was brought home from hospital.

I just couldn’t fathom the mentality behind such a vicious, mindless act. It was an appalling tragedy that was going to have an impact on so many lives.

Resnick was now telling us that Karen Prentiss and her baby were in the neighbour’s house and naturally she was in a terrible state.

Around us the air buzzed and crackled with radio chatter. Officers were whispering to each other, their faces stiff with shock.

‘We’ll need to liaise closely on this one,’ Resnick said. ‘It’s possible, or perhaps even likely, that DI Prentiss was targeted because he was on your task force. Have you any idea who might have done it or paid someone to do it?’

After a brief hesitation, Drummond said, ‘There’s something you need to know and I fear it’s related to this.’

‘Really?’

So Drummond told him about the threat and even showed him the message on his own phone.

‘We were instructed by the Commissioner to keep it to ourselves,’ he said. ‘But then yesterday evening the message was forwarded to our family members and people who are close to us.’

‘Holy Christ,’ Resnick said. ‘That’s fucking scary.’

He gave himself a moment to take in what he’d been told and then asked us if we were ready to view the body. Drummond said we were but first we had to slip on the white suits and shoe covers.

The scene in the hallway sucked the breath out of my lungs. Dave Prentiss’s body was covered with a sheet and when it was pulled back I saw that most of his face had been blown away.

He was sprawled on his back with his arms stretched out above him. The sheer, brutal sadness of what I was seeing brought me out in a cold sweat. I just didn’t want to imagine what it had been like for his wife when she came down the stairs and found him.