‘It certainly does,’ Abbott said. ‘And poor Rachel then suffered another blow when the guy she was going to marry ditched her just before their planned wedding.’

James nodded in agreement. ‘Anyway, how are you coping, Jessica? Looking at that footage showing how things were before Rachel disappeared can’t be easy for you.’

Abbott hesitated before she responded. ‘Well, if I’m honest, guv, it’s bloody difficult, but it’s got to be done. And since I was among the guests, I reckon I’m best placed to do it.’

James gave her shoulder a squeeze. He was full of admiration for the way she was handling things.

He checked his watch, saw it was almost 4 a.m., and decided it was time for another team talk.

‘We’ll have it in the Garden Room again,’ he told Abbott. ‘Let’s say in half an hour. I’ll round up the troops and see if the hotel can lay on some coffee and snacks to help keep us going. Daylight may only be four and a half hours away, but that doesn’t mean that any of our shifts will be coming to an end then. We’ve got a full day ahead of us.’

CHAPTER TWENTY

James went first to the hotel manager’s office where DC Hall informed him that the video clips from the wedding photographer were not very useful.

‘They’re focused mainly on the marriage ceremony and the photo session in the garden,’ Hall said. ‘There are plenty of shots of Rachel with the bride and groom and family members, but none that show the bloke with the beard.’

James gave Hall the job of getting the key team members together, including the chief forensic officer, for the briefing in the Garden Room.

‘I’ll be waiting there,’ he said. ‘I need to make a couple of calls first.’

The first call was to Central Control to provide them with an update and to find out if anything new had come in at their end. He was told that the name Carlo Salvi was not on the criminal records database, and that his photograph was now in circulation.

‘The press team want to know if you’d like them to put it out there with an appeal.’

‘The sooner the better,’ James answered. ‘But I’ll contact them now and tell them myself.’

When he got through to the press office, he spoke to the same person he’d spoken to earlier.

‘By all means, send out one of the photographs you’ve been sent,’ he told her. ‘But make it clear in the release that we understand his name is Carlo Salvi and that we want to talk to him as a possible witness, not a suspect.’

‘That won’t be a problem,’ she replied. ‘Meanwhile, as you would expect, there’s growing interest in the story. The Chief Constable’s office thinks it would be a good idea to stage a press conference as soon as is practical. You won’t have to come to Penrith though as we can arrange for it to take place in Kendal if you’d prefer.’