“Yes, ma’am. There wasn’t a lot of traffic at that time of night, of course, but there was more than you might expect, especially over a two- or three-hour period. Seems that the route our vans took cuts a big corner off if you want to get to Harrogate and West Yorkshire, especially if you want to avoid the A1 with all the lorries and roadworks. It’s a bit slower, of course, but some drivers aren’t in that much of a hurry. The main problem isn’t the volume of traffic, though. It just takes time to narrow things down, find the drivers, check their stories. We have to follow up on every car and van. And the quality of the images isn’t always as good as one would hope. According to Mandy Ketteridge’s statement, we believe the murder took place between two-fifteen and two-thirty in the morning, so we’re starting by working on a time spread between one and three a.m. Naturally, we’ll extend that if we get more information.”

“Anything stand out yet?” Banks asked.

“There’s a couple of builders’ vans,” Gerry said. “One white, the other dark blue, or black. We think the girl was taken and raped in a van of some sort before she was dumped by the roadside. At least she was dumped from it, even if she was raped elsewhere. The problem is, the number plate on the white van is impossible to read.”

“No name on the side, or logo?”

“No, sir. Not on either.”

“OK. Keep at it,” Banks said.

“And Gerry,” Annie added. “As we think the second van might have turned back—”

“We’ll be checking for that, too, though there are a few out-of-the-way routes over the moors that can get you back to Eastvale by a different, and CCTV-free, route.”

“Bugger,” said Annie. “But if he did take a different route, away from the cameras, it seems to indicate some degree of premeditation, or at least self-preservation after the fact.”

“Lots of people know they’re on candid camera everywhere they go these days,” said Banks. “If he’d just killed someone, he’d probably be extra cautious, so that’s a good call.”

“I would have thought he’d also be panicking,” said Annie. “Unless it was something he was used to. I don’t know about you, Gerry, but I think if I’d just gone too far and killed someone, I’d be crazy with fear. I wouldn’t be thinking clearly.”

“Perhaps,” said Gerry. “But we’ve no way of knowing. I suppose it affects different people differently. It doesn’t mean he was a cold-blooded killer, just that he maybe felt a sense of calm and clarity after he’d done it. Relief, maybe.”

“Sexual?”

“That’s possible, too. Lord knows there are enough men who get off on violence against women.”