‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘But the investigation has only just begun. We’re hoping—’

He cut me off. ‘Look, be straight with me, hon. Do you have any idea who’s doing this?’

‘We have a bunch of suspects,’ I said.

‘So that’s a no then.’

‘I didn’t say that, Aidan.’

‘You didn’t have to. What about that man Slack, the gangster?’

‘He was arrested and I questioned him myself,’ I said.

‘Then why have I just heard on the news that he’s been released without charge, along with others?’

‘We know he didn’t kill Dave Prentiss because he’s under surveillance. But although it’s possible he paid someone to do it we can’t charge him unless we can prove it, and right now we can’t. Plus, we haven’t uncovered any link between him and the text messages.’

He gave an exasperated sigh and his tone became less combative.

‘I don’t want it to sound like I’m having a go at you, Laura,’ he said. ‘But try to put yourself in our position. It was bad enough when we received the message. But now we know that this nutter has every intention of carrying out his threat.’

‘I’m in the same position as you and mum,’ I said. ‘So I do know how you feel. And if I could just make it all go away by waving a magic wand I would. But it’s going to take time. And, just so you know, there are discussions taking place at the highest level about protection for everyone concerned.’

He left it a couple of beats before responding, and I heard my mother in the background asking him when I’d be coming home.

‘Tell her I hope to be home in a few hours,’ I said. ‘I’m desperately in need of a shower and some sleep.’

‘Well, whatever time you get here I’ll be up,’ he said. ‘And please take care of yourself.’

When I came off the phone I had to resist a sudden urge to drop everything and rush straight home. I wanted to be with Aidan and my mum. They were the two most important people in my life and they were at risk from a deranged killer or killers.

What if one of them was going to be the next target? Or both of them for that matter? How would I ever forgive myself, knowing that I hadn’t done more to protect them?

But we were all faced with the same dilemma – and none of us knew how to respond to it.

Drummond called us together for another update. Frustration lent an edge to his voice as he announced that all the faces we’d brought in for questioning had either been released or would be soon.

‘We’ve got sweet fuck all,’ he said. ‘We’re still sifting through phone records and computers but I’m not optimistic.’