Connor puts a grease-stained finger in his mouth and chews on the nail.

‘Connor, we won’t say the information came from you.’

‘They don’t know anything about the freezer.’

‘We just need to ask, Connor. It’s important we find out what happened to that man,’ Mina adds gently. ‘It could be someone’s grandad or father. And they deserve to know.’

At that comment Connor looks up sharply, meeting Mina’s gaze. She pushes her notebook across to him. He looks at it for a second, then picks up the pen. ‘I don’t know them,’ he says again, scribbling in an almost unintelligible handwriting.

‘That’s fine, whatever you can give us.’

He pushes the notebook back then looks to Headley, who nods. He scuttles out of the café.

‘He’s a good kid,’ the old man says. ‘Just had a shit start in life.’

‘He obviously looks up to you,’ Mina replies.

‘I do what I can.’

Mina calls Josh as they walk back to the car, and Freya tries Robin again. This time he answers.

‘How are you doing? What’s going on?’ she asks him.

There’s a long pause. ‘It’s a fucking mess,’ he says at last. Freya can hear the stress in his voice. ‘Finn’s on his way to the hospital now, but he keeps on saying it was his fault.’

‘His fault what? That Simon Sharp’s dead?’

‘What else?’ Robin sighs. Freya can imagine him standing there, gaze fixed on the ground, phone clamped to his ear with one hand, running the other through his short greying hair. ‘The van’s a bloodbath, Freya,’ he says quietly. ‘It’s everywhere. All up the walls, all over Finn.’

Freya hesitates. ‘Do you think he did it?’

Another pause. ‘I can’t imagine…’ His voice breaks.

‘Do you want me to come up there?’ she asks. ‘I can help you look into it?’

‘No, no, it’s fine,’ Robin says quickly. ‘They’re barely letting me near it. Anyway, what have they got you working on?’

‘Dead body in a freezer,’ she says.

‘What?’

‘Found this morning. Bloke tipped over a dumped freezer, corpse fell out.’

There’s another silence, then she can hear Robin laughing. She smiles, the noise welcome after her worry for her boss.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘Just after the day I’ve had. My imagination went a bit bonkers.’ He snorts again then manages to contain his laughter. ‘Who’s in charge?’

‘Josh Smith.’

‘Who?’

‘The new DC? The one from Newcastle?’

‘The one who sounds like he’s in Byker Grove?’ Robin starts laughing again. ‘Oh, good grief.’

Mina comes up and stands next to her. ‘Is that Butler?’ she mouths and Freya nods.

‘Mina is here, she says hello.’

‘Oh shit, it’s her first day,’ Robin replies. ‘Say hello from me.’

‘He says hello,’ she directs to Mina. ‘When will you be back?’ Freya asks.