‘Cameraman came back around about half three, once the storm abated. Couldn’t get in. All doors are locked tight from the inside and his key didn’t work. He was debating calling a locksmith but then he heard screaming.’ Craig looks away from Robin, towards the van. ‘Someone was hysterical. At that point he tried to bash the back door in, but no luck, so he looked in through the windows. He couldn’t see much, but he noticed what he thought was blood, so he called us. That was around four this morning. The rest of his team showed up shortly after.’

Robin nods slowly, trying to remain calm. He can see small dents on the metal door, but nothing that has made any impact. He looks around for a moment, then sees what he’s looking for: a large metal cylindrical object on the floor next to one of the police cars. He points towards it.

‘Have you tried the battering ram?’ he asks.

Craig screws her face up. ‘Not yet. Not until we know what we’re dealing with. We made an initial approach, got as much intelligence as we could…’ She pauses. ‘But then he started shouting about killing himself.’

Robin recoils. Finn – threatening suicide? What is going on? Craig bends down towards the laptop on the table and pulls up some photographs. ‘This is all we could see.’

Robin squints at the photos. They are blurry, obviously taken at speed through the plastic window. But there is no doubt what they’re showing.

The first is the floor of the van. And it’s a mass of red. Running through the grooves in the flooring, pooling at the edges. It seems to be blood. And there is a lot of it.

The next photo is a leg, lying at an unnatural angle, under a table. Jeans stained with red. A socked foot. A shoe missing.

And the last. Robin takes a quick intake of breath. It’s Finn. His face is up against the window, contorted in anger or fear or… or what? Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

‘And that’s definitely your friend, Finlay Mason?’

‘Finn, yes,’ Robin confirms.

‘Has he been in trouble before?’ Craig asks.

Robin straightens up and stares at her. ‘No.’

‘Ever tried to kill himself?’

Robin shakes his head. ‘I don’t know. Up until today I would have said no, but given the circumstances…’ He trails off, feeling deflated.

He thought he knew Finn, but the reality is that over the years their relationship has become more distant. They haven’t seen each other much lately. They aren’t kids any more; this isn’t rural Devon.