Connie kept her voice low. ‘If it’s a choice between respect and getting their loved ones back, I’m pretty certain they’ll choose the latter. People respond to reflections of themselves. I need to present myself as physically and emotionally close to the murderer as I can so he can relate to me. Every image means something different to him than it does to you.

‘Here, the uniforms represent safety and structure. To him, they’re a threat and a brand for a world he’s rejecting. If I look like him, I might be able to appeal to something in his subconscious that tells him I can empathise. Thin like him, unadorned, functional. So no desk, no formality, and you’re going to need to inform the families that I’ll be saying a few things they might not appreciate hearing. I’m aiming to have a conversation with the kidnapper. It’ll sound one way to you, but if I get this right, it’ll sound very different inside his head.’

‘It’s not the established method for press conferences,’ the liaison officer said.

‘Amen to that.’ Connie clipped on her lapel mic and took her seat.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Elspeth fetched water and a cloth and cleaned Xavier’s cuts. She and Meggy had helped to get him into an upright position on the couch, much as he’d protested when they first went to touch him. Elspeth understood. She must have sounded just as maniacal as Fergus, but if inhabiting their captor’s world was the only way to keep them all safe, then that was what she intended to do.

‘I saw your photo in the paper,’ Xavier said between sips of tea and applying a wet cloth to his bruises. ‘It didn’t occur to me that the same man was kidnapping me.’

‘You’re in the wrong place if you’re expecting an explanation. I have no idea why he took me, even less how he chose Meggy. Are you hungry?’

Xavier shook his head before checking that Meggy wasn’t within earshot, but Elspeth had sent her to the unoccupied bedroom to get the bed ready.

‘I just watched him kill my friend,’ he whispered. ‘He stuck a knife in him like it was nothing at all, as if he didn’t even register that he was killing someone. I was so certain I was next.’

Elspeth sank onto the sofa and closed her eyes. ‘Please don’t give Meggy the details.’

‘Of course.’ He reduced his voice to an almost inaudible whisper and leaned forward to Elspeth. ‘How long have you been here?’

‘I don’t know. There’s no natural light, and he turns our lighting on and off randomly. I lost track with my watch between night and day.’ She looked up suddenly. ‘What’s today’s date?’

‘October 7th.’