‘Sorry, the DCI asked us to start working on bits for you but we haven’t called because there wasn’t much to report,’ the constable said.

‘How much have you got through?’

‘We brought together all the missing persons reports from Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and a few others we managed to get. They’ve all gone onto the list we had to start with and we’re working our way through a bit of background to see if any were former prisoners.’

‘Have you got a list of names?’

‘Only on screen.’ The constable pointed at the computer monitor and Jessica crouched over to look.

‘Can you search for anyone called “Matt” or “Matthew” please?’

The officer clicked through a few screens and brought up a list. There were only two names and one of them had been missing long-term. The second had disappeared the previous week and Jessica felt a familiar tingle down her spine as the operator brought up the details they had.

Matthew Cooper lived locally and had been reported missing by his younger brother. Not only that but, give or take a couple of months, he was the same age as all the other victims who’d had their hands left around the city.

‘Can you find out as much as you can about this guy for me?’ Jessica asked, noting the phone number of his sibling.

Jessica went to brief Cole about everything that had happened and then, as Rowlands and Diamond arrived, annoyed at having to use public transport, the three of them called the remaining members of the rugby team who they knew were alive. They also looked over their list of college-leavers but Matthew Cooper wasn’t on it.

She let the two constables leave for the day but, not entirely willing to give up her theory, called the missing man’s brother, Luke. The details around his sibling’s disappearance seemed fairly straightforward – he had gone to the pub one night and not returned. The missing man’s friends said he had left as he normally would and, as Jessica had seen from the brief information they had on record, there hadn’t been anything the local force to the west of the city had found. Although missing people weren’t exactly common, Matthew wouldn’t have been the first person to stumble into the canal after having too much to drink.

Because there was no other obvious way to identify who the hand had come from, Jessica asked Luke if an officer could visit to take a mouth swab that would be tested by the labs against the mangled hand. She tried not to give the man any hope his missing sibling had been found but it was a tough situation. Either way, he agreed and Jessica figured they might have a match one way or the other in the next twenty-four hours if they were lucky.

It was as she was about to hang up that Jessica realised she had overlooked the most obvious question. ‘Does your brother have any tattoos?’ she asked.

‘He’s got a few on his arms and a big one on his back,’ Luke replied.

‘Is that all?’

‘Why?’

‘It could just help us with identification purposes if need be.’

‘The one on his back is a dragon while he’s got some Chinese bits on his arms.’

Jessica didn’t want to give specifics about the tattooed letters she’d seen on the victim’s fingers in case it gave too much away. Nothing had been released to the media so far and if it did turn out to be the man’s brother, she would want the DNA confirmation first before telling him properly. ‘Are you sure he doesn’t have any others?’

‘I think there’s something on his calf . . . oh, and he’s got something on his knuckles too,’ the man added. Jessica held her breath as the man finished his sentence. ‘I don’t know why he got it but it says my name “Luke” on one hand and “Matt” on the other.’

Jessica kept herself calm as she thanked the man for his help and said she would contact him once the DNA results came back. She hung up and took a deep breath.

It seemed likely the fourth hand belonged to Matthew Cooper but, considering he neither played rugby – nor went to school – with the other three victims, she had no idea how he was connected to them.

25

The almost two-day wait to get the identity of the severed finger confirmed had been interminable. It seemed fair that the lab workers had to take their time given the state of the hand but that hadn’t stopped Jessica swearing silently at them in the privacy of her office.

Edward Marks, Lewis Barnes and Jacob Chrisp had all gone to the same school together and played in the same rugby team. Matthew Cooper had none of those connections and, apart from being roughly the same age and coming from generally the same area, Jessica hadn’t managed to find anything else to link him to the other victims.

After confirmation of his identity, she broke the news to Luke Cooper that his brother was most-likely dead and tried to get as much information as she could about the missing man. The problem was that, aside from an odd taste in tattoos, Matthew simply seemed too normal. He worked in accounts, had a small group of friends, was apparently happily single and, from everything they had found, had no obvious enemies or reasons for people to hurt him.

Jessica didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing but January Forrester had also been ruled out of their inquiries. At the time the fourth hand was being left, she was doing volunteer work at a hostel and had half-a-dozen witnesses to say where she was. Jessica was glad in a way as it closed that chapter but, on the other hand, didn’t give them much to work with.

While Rowlands and Diamond continued to look into Matthew’s background to see if there was something they had missed, Jessica had an up-to-date photograph of the missing man from his brother and was taking a day to visit relatives of the other people who had disappeared.

Vicky Barnes wasn’t ready to admit January was innocent and was still angry with the police for releasing the woman. She kept saying she didn’t feel safe in her house but, while Jessica had some sympathy, there wasn’t really anything the woman had to back her feelings up, other than the fact January had been freed. Either way she didn’t recognise the picture of Matthew Cooper and neither did Jacob Chrisp’s parents.

Her final call was to Charlie Marks, who invited her over to the house again. Jessica had no problems finding the place second time around and parked at the top of the driveway. The gardens looked as if they had been cut since the last time Jessica had visited and as the man strolled out of the house, it seemed clear he had now moved in properly. He looked like a man of leisure, wearing a different pair of baggy shorts and flip-flops, finished off with a loose-fitting cotton shirt and sunglasses. It was a slightly strange thing to do but, as he emerged into the sun to greet Jessica, he took the glasses off.

If anything his hair looked blonder and messier than before and he smiled as he welcomed her inside. For a moment, she thought he might try to hug her but he simply held out his hand for her to shake.

‘How are you keeping, Charlie?’ she asked.

‘Not too bad. I’m still sorting through some of my brother’s papers and I’ve been in touch with a couple of solicitors. Obviously I’m still hoping you’ll find him but there are bills that need to be paid and so on. It’s very complicated because Ed is still classed as “missing” rather than anything . . . worse. I don’t think he was very good at keeping up with things.’

Jessica nodded, knowing it was hard enough dealing with the legal issues when someone had died, let alone when they had just disappeared. ‘I don’t really need to stay for long, I was wondering if you might be able to take a look at a photo for me to see if you recognise the person?’