Kim obviously cared for her mother and had wanted to try to help but had reached the end of her young tether. As she cried and made her admissions, Jessica felt devastated for her. She was so young but her childhood had been ruined, having seen everything she must have done. Despite all of that, she refused to criticise her upbringing.

Given what connected the first two victims, there was one question Jessica had been waiting to ask: ‘Do you know if your mother was ever burgled?’

‘What would you have cared?’

‘We would always respond to something like that.’

‘You didn’t do much when those kids were harassing her.’

‘I’m sorry about that.’

‘You weren’t too bothered when your lot were threatening to arrest her and scaring her off the street.’

Emily helped calm her sister and Jessica eventually got her answer. ‘No.’

Jessica already knew Claire Hogan’s flat wasn’t one of the addresses Wayne Lapham had been caught in possession of stolen goods from but he was still their only link to the first two victims. ‘Was’ now seemed to be the appropriate word. If the prostitute’s murder was linked to the other two, the one connection they thought they had – burglary – was no more.

Shaun Hogan was an interesting character though. He was now twenty-one and there were a few minor crimes on his record, things like shoplifting when he was in his teens. He had been jailed two years ago for a serious assault on a man outside a bar in Leeds city centre. Emily and Kim both seemed reluctant to talk about him but the older sister told them her brother left the area shortly after Claire moved into the flat.

For reasons that seemed obvious, given the lack of room, he had apparently not been too keen on living with his mother and younger sister. When Claire had moved out of whatever house she shared with her husband and moved into the flat, both of her eldest children had left home quickly, Emily at eighteen, Shaun at sixteen. Emily had somehow managed to turn her life around as Shaun had gone the other way, moving to another city and ending up in jail. Kim, meanwhile, had stayed at home for almost the entire time.

Jessica thought it was a very mixed-up family, while realising how lucky she had been to be brought up well. It put her silly argument with Caroline into perspective.

She called the prison, arranging to visit Shaun on the Monday. Someone would break the news about his mother to him in the meantime. After that, she spent the rest of the day in meetings with the DCI and Cole. At the moment, there was nothing concrete to link the latest killing with the previous two. The initial forensics results should at least confirm a similar murder weapon. Jessica felt sure everything was somehow connected and that the property had been locked almost to taunt them. Whoever the killer was could easily have got access to the flat given Claire’s profession. Getting out might have been more difficult but whoever was responsible had set the scene up similar to the previous ones for a reason. If initial results confirmed a similar method of killing, the DCI said he would give another media briefing to ask for help.

A firm plan of action would be hard to come up with. Even if someone had seen a strange person entering Claire Hogan’s flat it wouldn’t have been anything out of the ordinary and the police weren’t expecting too many of her clients to phone up either. It was going to be a hard thing to manage via the media. Getting members of the public to pay attention to a murder appeal for someone who seemed a bit like them, suburban and respectable, was easy. Getting people to care about the murder of a prostitute would be harder to pull off. It was the last thing they wanted to do but Cole suggested embracing the ‘Houdini’ name. Jessica hated the idea but had to admit it would keep the media on-side and give them their best opportunity of getting people to contact them.

As she emerged from the discussions to head home, she noticed there were three missed calls on her phone. She’d had it on silent all day, moving from interviews to meetings. The caller’s identity was obvious, her only surprise being he hadn’t called earlier. Jessica thumbed the redial button and the other person answered on the first ring.

‘Mr Ashford,’ she said. ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

Garry Ashford still felt as if he was constantly riding his luck at work. The profile of DS Daniel had somehow managed to get him into everyone’s good books. He even had a text message from her saying she owed him. He would have settled for any kind of communication that didn’t involve copious but impressively creative swearing but that was even better.

He wasn’t entirely sure how it was going to go down in the office but the editor had been upbeat about the piece. Garry had claimed it as an exclusive, even though much of it hadn’t come from Jessica herself. That along with the background piece he had put together on Wayne Lapham had given him two more days of decent coverage.

The pay rise still hadn’t materialised though.

Despite the text he received from DS Daniel, he didn’t respond and hadn’t contacted her since. Garry figured it was probably best to keep that goodwill stored up in case something else significant happened.

This particular Saturday he was hoping for a quieter day given what he had ended up being asked to do the past few weeks. When he saw his source’s number ringing his phone, he groaned. He half-thought about ignoring it but then took the call. He listened to the details and wrote everything down, before hanging up and calling DS Daniel. There was no answer and he wondered if she was avoiding him. He phoned his editor and then set off to catch a bus out to the latest victim’s address. His source said they didn’t have a name but knew where the crime scene was. He tried DS Daniel one more time but there was still no answer.

‘Another fine Saturday,’ he moaned to no one in particular.

‘Hi,’ Garry said. ‘I guess you know why I’ve been calling.’

‘You’re still going to have to tell me what you think you know.’

The journalist informed Jessica that he had visited the murder site and spoken to the upstairs neighbour. He knew Claire Hogan’s name and that the woman who lived upstairs had been keen to talk about the dead female’s chosen profession, as well as telling him how the police had smashed in the door that morning. He wanted Jessica to confirm this murder had been committed by the same person as the first two.

Jessica could answer that question honestly. ‘I don’t know that yet.’

‘What do you think, though?’

‘I think you’re putting me in an awkward position. We don’t have any results yet. I still shouldn’t be talking to you.’

‘I don’t have to use your name.’

Jessica thought for a few moments. ‘Who will you quote?’

‘A senior source close to the investigation.’

‘ “Senior?” ’

‘Okay. A “source” close to the investigation.’

‘ “Close?” ’

‘Come on . . . You’re taking the mick now.’

Jessica laughed. ‘Yeah, I am. Okay, fine, I do think it’s the same person but that is it. I owe you no more. We are even.’

‘All right.’

‘And no more phone calls. You’ve got to go through the press office like everyone else.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes! I know my sexy phone voice is a big turn-on for you but talking to the media can get me into trouble.’

Garry Ashford laughed awkwardly. ‘Okay.’

When Jessica arrived home, Caroline was waiting for her in the living room, alone. Jessica had gone to leave her bag and shoes in the usual position, on the floor by the door, when her friend turned around to look at her. ‘Hi,’ Caroline said.

‘Hi.’

‘Long day?’

‘Another body.’

Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘You’re joking?’