He went on to inform the team that the patrol officers who turned up at Hannigan’s house would remain there overnight and arrangements were being made to repair the broken kitchen window.

It was coming up to 7.30 p.m. when Stevens called from the hospital to tell him that Hannigan had regained consciousness but was now confused and in pain.

‘He did manage to respond to some questions from the team who treated him in A&E by moving his head,’ Stevens said. ‘He confirmed he fell down the stairs and that he’d been drinking and snorting cocaine. I’ve spoken to a doctor who says he doesn’t appear to have any serious internal injuries, but we won’t be allowed to interview him until tomorrow at the earliest.’

‘That’s what I expected. Are his parents there?’

‘They just arrived. And so did Erika Chan. Turns out Hannigan hadn’t told them that she’d walked out on him this morning. I was with her when she broke the news and it didn’t seem to come as any great surprise to them. In fact, I got the impression they had every sympathy for her.’

James told Stevens about the envelope they’d found.

‘Mention it to Miss Chan and the parents,’ James said. ‘I’d like to know if they were aware that their boy had been stalking Rachel.’

Stevens sent James a text ten minutes later just as he was about to leave the office to go home.

Parents and Chan claim not to have been aware of the stalking or that he had an envelope containing pics of Rachel and her boyfriend.

The case continued to play inside James’s head as he drove home. It hadn’t snowed for a while, and the roads were in much better shape, but tiredness infused his bones, which made it hard for him to concentrate.

Before leaving the office, he’d sent Annie a text to say he was on his way. She messaged back that she would put a ready meal in the oven and keep Bella awake until he got there.

His thoughts continued to spin in all directions and he felt uncertainty beat in his heart. He was annoyed with himself because he still couldn’t be sure who had murdered Rachel Elliott and why.

There were so many thoughts tumbling through James’s mind that it was making the muscles knot in his stomach.

He tried to drown them out by turning on the radio, but it was bad timing as he caught the tail-end of a news story in which the reporter told listeners that Cumbria police were making slow progress in their hunt for the person who’d been dubbed ‘The Winter Killer’.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

By the time James arrived home he felt mentally fried and was struggling to ignore the questions that were bunching up inside his head.

But as soon as he walked through the door and saw his daughter beaming at him from her mother’s arms, all thoughts of the case vanished from his mind and a warm glow rose in his chest.