The man blanched. ‘Of course. It’s on the hard drive – I can get a copy.’

‘Thank you – but one of our officers will do that, if that’s okay.’ He nodded to Campbell, who left with the office assistant. ‘And I also want your deliveries logbook.’

Flustered and uncertain, the manager pulled up the record and printed a copy.

‘Many deliveries here at night, sir?’ Skeffington asked as he flicked through the list.

‘One or two a week – usually early morning when a container comes off Newhaven. The overnight ferry gets in at 5am and we’re usually their first delivery. It’s about 6am.’

‘What about sending goods onward? Anything at night?’

‘No. That’s all done in the day. We have a security guard on overnight and the first colleague usually arrives by 5.30am. The office staff are all here by 8.30am and last to leave is 4.30pm,’ said the manager.

Campbell entered the room with the office assistant.

‘Got it, sir.’ He waggled a portable hard drive.

‘Excellent. That was easy, wasn’t it? Tell you what, let’s have a quick look while we’re here. I’d like to see from 5.15am to 7.30am – each day, starting two weeks ago,’ said Skeffington. ‘If nothing comes up then, we’ll go back a week at a time.’

‘That’ll take ages, inspector,’ protested the manager.

‘But think of the fun we’ll have, sir. Better make yourself comfortable,’ said Skeffington.

#

The office assistant showed Campbell how to operate the system.

‘Go back to fast forward,’ said Skeffington when Campbell took over. Under his breath, he added: ‘Although the chances of us finding anything are zero. Yet another wild goose chase because the boss has got her knickers in a twist.’

Campbell ignored him. The CCTV started on the Monday, two weeks ago. Four images were displayed on the screen, one showing the front of the office, another the loading bay, the third the car park and the last a wide-angle shot of the gate.

The footage showed the arrival of the first person shortly after 5.30am. It was a large, bearded man. Skeffington didn’t recognise him from the staff waiting in the break room – must be the early-morning shift. No one else arrived until 6.15am. Campbell slowed down the video and took a note of the number plates. It took five minutes to speed through Monday, another five for Tuesday. By Thursday, the pattern of early-morning arrivals was becoming clear. The first car came at 5.30am, the second at 6.30am and then a flurry of drivers parking up between 7am and 8am.

‘Focus on that first hour when there’s only one person on duty from now on,’ said Skeffington. ‘If I was Abu Mujahid collecting a package, that’s when I’d do it.’

Friday’s footage came up. The first car arrived at 5.30am, according to the timestamp. The driver got out and opened up the office.

‘Stop,’ said Skeffington, moments later. The headlights of a vehicle had appeared. It drove up to the car park and halted. No one got out. It was a van, parked sideways to the camera, so its number plate was out of shot.