How the hell had Carla missed that? Unless Gloria had never been picked up, in which case there’d be no trace of her on the system. But Nell doubted Gloria would have avoided all police contact; Oxford was small enough for cops to know most sex workers by name, so something would have been logged, even if it was just an intel report. Maybe Carla just hadn’t looked?

Terry fell into another fit of coughing and sat down behind the desk. ‘As far as I could tell,’ he said when he’d cleared his throat. ‘Didn’t ask, of course, not the gentlemanly thing to do.’ He winked at Paul, whose face remained the same, making Terry shuffle awkwardly in his seat. ‘Anyway, not my business, is it?’

‘Not your business if someone is breaking the law over your shop?’ It was fine not to want to be involved, but Nell knew betting shops got enough visits from police without adding a resident prostitute into the mix. So why not shop her? Unless Gloria was giving sexual favours in return for his silence, which was possible; given the state of him, she imagined he’d be hard-pressed to get it any other way.

When he didn’t answer she asked, ‘And when did you last see her?’

He paused. ‘Maybe about ten yesterday morning.’

‘Is that normal?’

‘Normal?’

‘Is it the time you usually see her?’

Terry thought. ‘No. She usually comes round about eight in the evening. So I suppose it was a bit unusual.’

Nell nodded. ‘And O’Brian?’

Terry stared at her. ‘I didn’t really get a good look at the bloke, seeing as most of his head was sprayed all over the carpet.’

He had a point.

‘OK, so have you noticed anyone hanging around? Anyone who doesn’t look like a punter?’

Terry considered this for a second. ‘Well, there was this bloke who popped up every now and again. He’d come in for a bet, then would disappear about the time the woman turned up. Always had the same overnight bag. That’s what made me notice him. You don’t usually carry an overnight bag for an hour’s knock-up, do you?’

Nell had no idea what men took with them when they went to a prostitute and she couldn’t say she wanted to. But Kelly-Anne had mentioned O’Brian’s overnight bag and his regular absences, so that fitted. O’Brian had been using Gloria as his escape route and she’d obviously welcomed him.

So why kill him? Revenge? Frustrated, Nell pointed to the television screens. ‘I assume you have CCTV and it’s working?’

Terry nodded, heaved himself out of his chair and walked slowly behind the counter. ‘Inside and out. Want both?’

Paul nodded, following him across the room as Nell took out her phone and headed outside.