Porter waited until they were all seated before he spoke. Styles was the last man in, and slid into the free seat between Anderson and Whittaker.

‘C’mon then, Porter,’ said Anderson impatiently. ‘What’s so important we’ve had to put lunch on hold? I’ve only had a bowl of that granola crap all day.’ He patted his gut as he winked at Whittaker, and Porter grimaced at the ripple of flesh beneath the shirt. ‘Girlfriend reckons healthy eating will trim me down and give me a new lease of life in retirement.’

Porter held his phone down by his side. It was turned inwards against his leg to hide the screen. He saw Styles looking down at him, and realised his knee was bouncing up and down, but Porter kept his poker face on, tapping a rhythm out against his leg with the handset.

‘I’ve spoken with Rebecca Arnold, and things just got interesting,’ he said with an enigmatic smile.

‘Who the hell is she?’ asked Whittaker.

‘She’s a classmate of Natasha Barclay.’

‘Your hand with the missing body?’ asked Anderson. ‘What’s that got to do with our case? We’ll help if we get time, but we really need—’

‘They’re linked beyond doubt now. He’s the link.’ He whipped his hand up to chest height fast enough to give the man in the picture whiplash.

‘Is that who I think it is?’ said Styles softly.

Porter smiled. ‘How many other six-foot-five arseholes do you know? Bolton knew Natasha Barclay. Mrs Arnold puts them together twice in the weeks leading up to Barclay’s suicide; the same time frame anyone last spotted Natasha. She’s pretty sure Natasha took him home after a night out.’

‘I can see it’s an old pic, but he looks different as well – I mean, not just younger.’

‘It was taken when he was hauled in for assault back in the eighties. He got jumped on by four blokes in the nick and ended up with a nasty slash from a razor blade across the chin. That’s where he got his attractive scar, but this was before that.’

Anderson cleared his throat. ‘All very well and good, but how exactly does that help us with Bolton? So he knew her? Big deal. You saw what happened when we dragged him in with no proof. All this proves is that she didn’t exactly play hard to get if she put out after two dates.’

Porter shot him an irritated glance and Anderson’s throaty chuckle died away. Attitude like this was exactly why he didn’t want Anderson with his hands on the steering wheel. Some people had their glass half empty. Anderson’s had a massive crack running down the side for good measure.