‘I’m afraid it does.’

‘And presumably anyone can walk from the terrace to the back gate, which is not always manned, without being caught on camera.’

‘Yes, that is the case,’ Nolan said.

‘Does the camera in the Garden Room cover the door that opens out onto the terrace?’

Nolan shook his head. ‘It’s actually on the wall above the door so as to take in the bar area.’

James felt a stab of disappointment. ‘So why aren’t there more cameras here?’

Nolan shrugged. ‘Like most hotel owners, Mr Murphy endeavours to strike a balance between security and privacy. If you have too many it can make guests feel uncomfortable. And crime has thankfully never been a problem here.’

James turned back to Abbott. ‘Can you show me what you do have?’

Two of the clips Abbott had bookmarked featured the bearded man. In the first he was walking across the hotel reception a few paces behind Rachel, a smile on her face.

‘You’d never guess they were in a relationship,’ James observed.

‘Probably didn’t want the big reveal to come before the dinner,’ Abbott said. ‘Now check this out.’

The next clip showed Abbott getting into the lift in reception.

‘This was when I went up to get a wrap because Sean and I were going into the garden.’

She then fast-forwarded a few minutes and they watched the Italian come back down the stairs.

‘This was seconds after I saw the pair of them come out of Rachel’s room and it was less than an hour after they went upstairs.’

James watched as the Italian strode purposefully across reception, his head lowered the whole time. Rachel appeared just as he walked out of shot and she seemed quite distressed as she looked around for him. Then she hurried in the same direction he had been headed.

The guy was then picked up on the Garden Room camera making his way between the other guests as he headed towards the terrace.

‘I reckon he must have parked his car in the overflow field,’ Abbott said. ‘I know he didn’t enter the hotel through the front because I skimmed through the footage from that camera. And he also wasn’t picked up by the car park camera, which clearly shows people arriving.’

‘So, what did Rachel do after he walked off?’

‘I expected to see her enter the Garden Room after him, but instead she came back into reception before going upstairs, presumably to her room. See for yourself, guv.’

James saw Rachel moving fast in the footage, ignoring a couple of people who tried to talk to her.

Nodding, he said, ‘For now, we work on the assumption that they had an argument in her room that led to him storming off. She followed but soon realised it was a wasted effort and so returned to her room, probably to have a cry or to get her phone so she could call him. I noticed she isn’t carrying a purse.’