She folded the paper over and put it down on the table. Given the anger she felt at the giant photo of Hunt, she decided there was only one thing for it that evening. Harry had given her many pieces of advice but one of the things she pledged to remember was about keeping a normal life away from the job.

‘Do you fancy going out later?’ Jessica asked.

‘It’s a Sunday. Aren’t you at work tomorrow?’

‘Yes but we don’t have to go crazy, do we?’

‘All right but not that pub at the end of the road.’

Jessica nodded. ‘Okay, fine. We should probably clean this place up a bit before we go out.’

‘Is that your way of asking me to do it?’

‘Maybe . . . I’ll clean my room though.’

Caroline laughed. ‘You sound as if you’re eight years old.’

When the two of them had first moved in, Caroline had gone for the bedroom with the more girly colours while Jessica was happy with the one that had a light blue tone to it. Caroline’s had lilac walls and she had bought herself a matching duvet cover, while Jessica was using the same bedding she’d had for as long as she could remember. The walls may have been a pale blue but her sheets were dark brown. Her room was consistently the messier of the two as well, with most of her clothes left on the floor.

‘So we’re agreed,’ Jessica said. ‘You tidy the hallway, kitchen and living room and I’ll pick up the clothes from my floor.’

‘Whatever – as long as you buy the wine later.’

‘I did say I didn’t want to come here . . .’

Jessica knew her friend didn’t really like the pub closest to their flat but she didn’t fancy going into the city centre; there would be too much temptation to turn a relaxing night into something not really appropriate considering how much she would have to deal with the next day. This way she could sneak in something from one of the takeaways on the way home too, although she hadn’t mentioned that part when she and Caroline had made plans to go out.

‘I know but it’s close and it’s not that bad,’ Jessica replied.

‘Maybe not that bad for someone as cheap as you,’ Caroline said with a huge grin.

‘Right and whose top are you wearing?’

‘I wouldn’t dare wear something of mine in a place like this.’

The two women giggled to each other as the bottle-and-a-half of cheap wine they had gone through was beginning to take its toll.

‘I think you should give me the top anyway,’ Caroline continued.

‘Why would I do that?’

‘I distinctly remember lending you fifteen quid for a taxi a few years ago when you were going out with that Graham fella and I’m pretty sure I never got it back.’

That was possibly true, although money had never been an issue between them. Jessica hadn’t had much of a pay increase until very recently. Meanwhile, Caroline was enjoying a successful advertising career with one of the local agencies. She had been earning good money for a few years, certainly enough to move out of their flat if she so chose.

They laughed again. ‘Eew, Graham.’

Caroline and Jessica came from roughly the same place not far from Carlisle, a hundred miles or so to the north of Manchester. They hadn’t really had any contact with each other until they started sixth-form college when they were both sixteen. On the very first day, they had ended up sitting together in a history class.

Jessica often thought it was funny how one small, seemingly inconsequential, decision could have such a bearing on the rest of your life.

They were both only children and, since bonding through that, they had been more or less inseparable. They had spent a year travelling through parts of south-east Asia when they turned eighteen. Caroline had applied to go to university in Manchester and, although Jessica wasn’t interested in further education, the pair had both moved to the city upon their return. They didn’t live together at first. Caroline stayed in university accommodation for her first year, while Jessica found a flat close to where they currently lived. By the time Caroline had finished the first year of her course, the two of them moved into the same flat they still lived in.

Caroline had spent three years studying, while Jessica tried to find something she was interested in doing. She applied to the police on a bit of a whim. While a lot of people joined the force because they had a family member who also worked in the emergency or security services somewhere, this was far from the case for Jessica. Her parents managed a post office in their home town, which was certainly something that did run in the family. Her father’s father had bought the building and started the business almost sixty years ago. There was never really any chance of Jessica hanging around to take over the reins and both of her parents knew it. They never pressured her though and still ran the place, happily looking ahead to retirement in a few years. Jessica usually found time to visit her parents once every couple of months but spoke to them regularly on the phone.

Perhaps the reason the two had remained so close was that Caroline’s parents had both died within a few months of each other not long after she graduated. It hadn’t been much of a surprise; her mother and father were quite a bit older than Jessica’s parents and her dad had been ill for a while. Not long after he died, her mother did too. Caroline had been devastated but took heart from the fact they had both seen her graduate, the first in her family to do so.

‘So, new boyfriend then?’ Jessica said.

‘Yep.’

‘Let’s hear it then.’

‘Do you remember a few months ago when I went over in those heels?’

‘Of course,’ Jessica laughed. ‘It was really funny.’

‘Thanks for the sympathy; I could have broken my neck.’

‘Honestly, if there was any neck-breaking involved, I would have definitely laughed a little less.’

‘Anyway, I really like that pair, so I took them to that place on Gorton Market where they mend shoes. There was this lad who worked on the stall . . .’

‘You dirty tart.’

They giggled again. ‘We had a few drinks and have been seeing each other since then. We’re going out again some time this week.’

Jessica understood that meant her friend had been spending time with him when she claimed she was at the gym or somewhere else inconsequential but didn’t mind. ‘As long as you don’t dump me to move in with this obvious weirdo, then I hope you have a good time.’

‘Weirdo?’

‘He went out with you.’

‘Oi.’

They both laughed some more. ‘What’s his name then?’ Jessica asked.

‘Randall. Randall Anderson.’

‘Randall? What sort of name is that?’

‘I dunno. I kind of like it. It’s a bit different.’

‘Hmm . . . Caroline Morrison-Anderson. I guess it does have a ring to it.’

‘Don’t start . . .’

The fact neither of them had really had time for a serious relationship was perhaps the biggest reason neither Caroline nor Jessica had decided to move into their own place. Of course they actually liked living together but, with neither of them having a heavy commitment, there had never been too much need to hunt for a new place to live.

Jessica felt the wine taking hold and, as the final orders bell rang, she pulled her phone out from her bag. ‘I’m just going to check the Internet to see what’s in tomorrow’s paper.’

She thumbed away at the screen, flicking through her bookmarks before finding the Herald’s news site. The front page loaded and she pinched the screen to zoom in, before slamming her free hand down on the table.

‘What’s up?’ Caroline asked.

Jessica just about kept her temper intact. ‘Garry Ashford. Whoever he is, I am going to string him up.’