She recognises both detectives from the van. The car park they are now calling the ‘crime scene’. She saw Finn that morning, and if anything, he seemed worse. He barely reacted when she entered the room, his features blank. His voice, when he did speak, was flat and deadpan. She told Josie she was coming here this afternoon, and Josie just said, ‘Don’t make things worse.’

As if she could. As if anything could be worse than this.

The woman detective in charge, Craig, is showing her a photo of a camera.

‘Do you recognise this?’ Craig asks.

Sophie nods. ‘Kind of. Simon’s team had loads of cameras over this past week. I assume it’s one of those.’

‘It’s a Sony FS5,’ Craig says. Sophie has no idea what that means. ‘We recovered it from the van.’

‘Isn’t that a good thing?’ Sophie asks. But from the look on Craig’s face, she knows it can’t be. Not for Finn.

‘Yes, except the memory card transmitted any footage by satellite. To a networked drive we can’t locate. Do you know where Finn’s laptop is, Sophie?’

‘Either at the university or it would have been with him in the van.’

‘Is this it?’

The other detective, Grey, pushes another photo across. Sophie recognises the battered old MacBook, stickers plastered on the top. There’s a stain of something red across it, which Sophie realises must be Simon’s blood.

‘Yes, that’s Finn’s.’

‘Did he have any other computers?’

‘Only the one at the university. You’d have to speak to Ian to get that.’

Sophie knows full well that Ian’s already sent the copy of the hard drive across and wonders why the detectives are being so deliberately obtuse.

‘How would you describe Finn’s relationship with Simon?’

‘Colleagues.’

‘Not friends?’

‘Well, maybe. Finn doesn’t have many close friends.’

‘And why’s that?’ Craig leans forward across the table.

‘He’s shy. It’s hard to get to know him.’

‘You managed it.’

‘I persisted.’

‘What about his colleagues at the university? His PhD students – would Finn go out for drinks with them?’

Sophie isn’t sure what Craig is getting at.

‘Maybe, sometimes. But Finn said he spent all day with them, so he didn’t always want to spend the evening, too.’

‘So, Finn spent a lot of time with his colleagues? Would you say they knew him well?’

Sophie stops. ‘I don’t want to say anything else,’ she eventually replies and clamps her lips shut.

‘Listen, Sophie,’ DI Craig says, sitting back in her chair and putting her arms behind her head. ‘I’ll level with you. Things aren’t looking great for your boyfriend. We’re hearing stories of jealousy, of professional rivalry at the university. That Dr Mason was threatened by Dr Sharp and conflict was escalating.’

‘Who said that?’ She knows exactly who. Ian bloody Calloway.