‘Hmm, that’s nice, too.’ Lolly’s pursed lips suggested she thought the same about that one as she did about the others, which wasn’t much, but then she gasped and excitedly grabbed the phone from Sasha’s fingers to enlarge an image of an impossibly thin woman with legs up to her armpits, wearing what the ad described as a cocktail dress, but which looked more like a baby doll nightie. ‘Now, I can see you in that.’

Sasha stared at Lolly, wondering just what she thought Sasha wore while she was doing the housework.

‘Thanks, Lols,’ she said diplomatically and took back the phone. ‘I’ll take another look later.’

‘Where are we on interviewing the cousin of that missing girl?’ asked DCI Vaughn, coming over.

‘Girl?’ asked Sasha, momentarily confused.

‘Sarah Tovey, the nineteen-year-old who went missing in Brentwood the other night. Chelmsford are chasing that statement from her cousin.’

‘Yes.’ Sasha checked her notes and realized it hadn’t been actioned. ‘I’m sorry, Vaughn, I—’

‘Make sure you do. Three other young women have gone missing in the past two years, similar age and profiles, both vanished after leaving friends late at night, and the investigating team is jumpy.’

‘I’m on it,’ she said, as if it was all under control.

‘And where are we with the Andrew Dean murder?’

‘Abs has positively ID’d two of the men who abducted him last night,’ she told him as his phone buzzed.

Vaughn checked the screen immediately, and when he looked up, seemed distracted. ‘Abs?’

‘Danny Cruikshank, the reality star. He identified one of the men as Davey Jenkins, the uncle of Rhiannon Jenkins, the girl who went missing in Wales three years ago. Abs, Dean and two other men were questioned by the local police about the disappearance of the girl.’

‘Sure,’ he said, looking down when his phone buzzed again. Sasha caught a glimpse of the screen as he lifted it to look at the message.

‘And there was someone else in the vehicle we’ve identified as a local man called Stephen Gosling.’

‘Uh huh.’ A ghost of a smile appeared on Vaughn’s face as his fingers dabbed at the screen, replying to the message.

‘Gosling is a petty criminal, he’s got a record for drugs offences, burglary, selling stolen goods, fraud, a lot of small-time stuff. I remember him from a case I worked on a few years back. And he’s a known associate of our other suspect, Davey Jenkins.’ She added, ‘We believe the third suspect is a small porcupine called Gavin.’

Vaughn’s reply flew away with a whoosh and he put the phone away. ‘Good work,’ he said.

This was as bad as talking to her kids. ‘Gosling works at a caravan park near Shoeburyness. I’m going to see him now and I’ll take Craig.’

‘Keep me in the loop,’ he told her.