‘Apparently, his girlfriend finally wised up and decided to break off their relationship, so he figured he had nothing left to lose. The lure of his fifteen minutes of fame and the cash from selling his story were too much of an enticement. Says it didn’t occur to him that it would hurt Elspeth, although he was concerned that her husband might come after him, but he calculated that the video was so public he’d made himself untouchable.’

‘Do me a favour and plant a huge stash of class A drugs in his apartment shortly before executing a search warrant, would you?’ Connie asked.

‘I’m afraid I left all my cocaine at home today.’ He smiled softly. ‘It’s been an hour since our kidnapper hung up. Do you think Elspeth Dunwoody’s still alive?’

‘It’s not just Elspeth I’m worried about,’ Connie said. She scribbled notes on a board then stood back to consider what she’d written against the backdrop of the wall of images, notes and maps that now covered a large section of her hotel room. ‘What became obvious during that call is that our man has undertaken a substantial world-building exercise. He’s given his delusion not just scaffolding, but also interior decoration. I’m not sure it’s possible to burst just one section of that balloon without the whole thing exploding.’

‘Meggy and Xavier?’

‘Might be secondary casualties. He may feel his entire world is tainted and decide to wipe the slate clean. If they try to intervene, they might end up wounded as a result of his rage with Elspeth. The important thing is that we’ve spoken to him now. Every word he said is additional information. It’s a blueprint to his brain.’

‘What does he want?’ Baarda asked.

‘He’s taken a woman we now know he idolised, fantasised about, as his wife. That was his primary motivation. She won’t be able to maintain that illusion for him, so how’s that going to resolve?’

‘He either ignores the fact that she doesn’t feel the same and carries on regardless, or he disposes of her and develops a new obsession,’ Baarda said.

Connie stared at the collage of photos of Elspeth. ‘This man feels passionately about Elspeth. His feelings aren’t a delusion, they’re real in terms of the chemical reaction they fire in his brain. He’s studied her and sees aspects of her personality that perfectly match what he wants. She ticks all his boxes. Elspeth Dunwoody sets him on fire. Does your wife still do that for you?’

‘Not going there,’ Baarda said.