After a full five minutes he reaches a decision. ‘Lieutenant Farrage is leading the investigation. I cannot go behind his back to give you information. However, I will tell the coroner and other forensic specialists to answer your questions. I’ll also tell my staff not to obstruct you.’

‘Thank you.’ I hadn’t anticipated any more help and my visit is more about courtesy than expectations.

‘Let’s be clear about one thing, Boulder. If I hear of you running your mouth about how I’m helping your investigation, all deals are off. I’ll personally make you and your buddy’s life a misery. His licence will be revoked and you’ll both be prosecuted for every minor transgression imaginable, including jaywalking and littering.’

‘Don’t worry, Chief. We have no intention of blabbing about your help. All we want to do is help catch a killer.’

4

Alfonse hands me a mug of coffee and opens himself a beer. I’m not a regular drinker as when I do drink, I tend to drink way more than I should. The last time I had a drink, I lost three days and wound up in a Salt Lake motel with no clothes and an empty wallet.

‘I can’t believe you went to see the chief of police.’

‘Had to be done. Our paths would’ve crossed at some point and by going to see him on his turf, I showed him respect.’

Alfonse nods as he digests my words. By giving the chief a visit I’ve removed any possible animosity he may have felt when he heard we’d been hired by Niemeyer. Instead of our presence being a shock, it will now be expected. Instead of confrontation there will be grudging acceptance.

‘Never mind that. What did you learn from the Niemeyers?’

‘Nothing much if I’m honest. Kira lived by herself and wasn’t the greatest for keeping in touch with her family. They never knew she was missing, let alone murdered. If one of the detectives hadn’t recognised her, she’d have been labelled as a Jane Doe.’ He points to his laptop. ‘I’ve cloned the hard drive from both her cell and iPad.’

I nod. I’d had the same information from the girls in the Tree. Kira was a girl who’d hang out and party with friends for a few days and then drop out for days at a time. Sometimes she’d keep a low profile for weeks before reappearing as if she’d never been away.

Alfonse shared the details of her life that he’d got from her family and we made a plan of action for the next day.

I read his notes and add my own to them as he starts to dig around in her iPad.

Her father had made a fortune building a pipeline for the oilfields and gave her an allowance that made my eyes water.

She had three credit cards in her name and drove a mid-range Mercedes provided by her father.

Remembering my own dalliances with her, I recall how she’d treated life as a game. There to be played either solo or as part of a team.

Perhaps she had commitment issues or hadn’t yet fallen for anyone, but the more I think about it, the more I realise her relationships had never lasted more than a month or two at most.

My own relationship with her was one of convenience and a sating of animal needs. Twice, maybe thrice a year she’d call asking if I was seeing anyone. If I wasn’t she’d arrive with a bottle of wine and no underwear. She’d be gone by midnight leaving an empty wine bottle and a smile on my face.

I’d seen her around town and she’d been in the Tree once or twice, but she’d seemed to be distancing herself from her old friends.

The girls I’d spoken with earlier had hinted they weren’t as close as they once were, without saying anything definite.

We are now relying on Alfonse’s technical skills to get us a break or a window into Kira’s life. Given time he’ll get her phone records, credit card and bank statements. For the meantime, he is delving into the information cloned from her iPad.

After finishing my coffee, I put on my jacket. ‘I’m gonna go look over her place. See what I can find out.’

Alfonse looks up from his laptop. ‘At this time of night? It’s nearly three o’clock.’

‘Absolutely. Farrage and his buddies’ll be sniffing about there tomorrow and I’d rather see it before they go around disturbing everything. I’ll check it out tonight and see you in the morning. About nineish.’

5

Armed with Kira’s address and keys, I navigate my way to Constitution Avenue and pull up beside the kerb. The house is a good one, in a decent neighbourhood. The kind of house a family will call a home.

All the elements are there. White picket fence, double garage, manicured lawn and floral curtains peeping round the edges of the windows.

It doesn’t seem to fit with her free-spirited lifestyle, but then again it may have been a perfect retreat for her when she wasn’t partying around town.

On the other hand, it may have been her father who chose the house; undoubtedly it will have been his money that paid for it.

I pull on a pair of gloves before opening the front door and listening for the tell-tale beep of an alarm. I hear nothing. Either Kira or her killer hadn’t set it when leaving the house.

I take a slow walk from room to room looking for signs of a struggle or a fight. Or the place where Kira had been murdered. Both Alfonse and I are sure she’d been dumped on Kangle’s Bluff after being killed elsewhere.

Each room is a picture of domestic normality. Magazines adorn the coffee table in the lounge. A vase of flowers and a bowl of fruit sit in the middle of the kitchen table and each of the bedrooms is made up ready for use. Nothing I find gives me information until I open the door to the basement.

I go down the stairs with my nostrils twitching at the smoky aroma of extinguished candles mixed with the strong pheromones released during sex.

My jaw and fists clench as I descend the narrow stairs. Whatever I find down here isn’t going to be good.

When I turn the corner at the bottom of the stairs, the sight that awaits me doesn’t meet any of my expectations.

The basement is filled with restraints, sex swings and many other devices used by people engaging in bondage games. A table bears a selection of whips and paddles. An open closet in one corner holds a variety of leather, PVC and rubber costumes.

I peer at the whips and paddles looking for traces of blood, but none are evident. A proper forensic examination may find some but there’s nothing visible to the naked eye. I repeat the process with the various restraints and toys in the room but find nothing that points to Kira being killed in a sex game.

I take numerous photos with my cell before going back upstairs. Nothing on the lower floor tells me why the basement is kitted out as a bondage dungeon, so I move back to the first floor.

First I try the master bedroom. I look at the clothes in the closet and the drawers. Again, nothing catches my eye as out of place or unusual.

When I check out the closets in a spare bedroom, I find a whole different set of clothes. These aren’t the kind of clothes most women would have in their house. Perhaps one or two of the dresses or skirts but not as many as this.

I take photos of a number of items in each closet and the drawers before moving on to the third bedroom, only to find its closets bare.

My finishing point is the bathroom. I examine the medicine chest and discover only non-prescription painkillers and feminine paraphernalia including the contraceptive pill.

With my search complete, I leave and head back to my apartment while trying to make sense of my findings. The message I send to Alfonse receives no reply.