The governor himself had come down to meet them both. He was a strict-looking man in his late forties with a short, tight haircut and fierce-looking eyes. He had a voice that, even with his Yorkshire accent, was a little too high-pitched and didn’t quite fit. He introduced himself and shook both of their hands, saying he was taking them to the visitors’ centre. He told them it wasn’t visiting hours yet, so it would just be the two of them plus Shaun Hogan and the guards in the room.

He led them across the main yard, explaining that was where prisoners were first brought in and then took them through two sets of lockable doors before they emerged back outside into another yard. He told them about the facility itself and pointed them to the various wings as he did so, explaining where the old buildings ended and the new ones began. It obviously wasn’t an inspection but the governor clearly wanted to impress them.

They crossed a second yard and went down a concrete walkway towards a separate building as the governor told them he had informed Shaun about his mother’s death on Saturday.

‘How did he take it?’ Jessica asked as they walked side by side.

‘He didn’t even react. He nodded and asked if he could return to his cell.’

‘Seriously?’

‘He didn’t seem upset at all.’

‘How has he behaved since he’s been with you?’ Cole asked.

‘Incredibly well. He’s not been in trouble, he’s done any jobs assigned to him and worked hard in class according to the tutors.’

‘Is that normal?’ Jessica asked.

‘Sometimes you get the odd one but most people who want to cause trouble end up at Wakefield or one of the other Category A places.’

The governor led them into a building that was clearly newer than a lot of the prison, up a flight of stairs, before it opened into a large visiting area. The room was enormous, with vending machines lining the sides interspersed with posters that had words like ‘Respect’ and ‘Think’ written in large letters across them. The windows high on the walls were covered by metal bars and there were large banks of white strip lighting across the ceiling. Banks of grey and red plastic tables were bolted to the floor, with two chairs on each side. Everything looked very tidy and Jessica wondered if it had been cleaned for their benefit.

They were led to one of the tables near the front as the governor nodded to the two guards who were standing next to a separate door. One of them unclipped a radio from his belt and spoke into it as the governor said his goodbyes and left through the door they had entered through. Cole took out a notebook and pen and moments later they heard the door at the front being unlocked and a man was led in by two guards.

Prisons would often have their own interview rooms similar to a police station’s but Shaun Hogan wasn’t a suspect for any crime and they were talking to him to hopefully gain some background on his mother. Because of that, speaking to him in a more informal environment such as the visiting room, as opposed to an interview room, could perhaps get him to open up a little more.

The prisoner was wearing a grey sweatshirt and slightly darker tracksuit bottoms. He had short almost shaven dark hair but no other particularly distinguishing features. Jessica knew from experience you could look at some people and know they had spent time inside. They would have things like tattoos or scars and sometimes even the way they walked made them stand out from the rest of society. Jessica saw none of those giveaway signs in Shaun Hogan as he was ushered to sit in front of the two detectives, the four prison guards standing by the door again.

‘Are you Shaun Hogan?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’

‘My name is Detective Sergeant Daniel and this is Detective Inspector Cole.’

‘Are you here about my mum?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m not sorry she’s gone . . .’ The prisoner looked at Jessica, not in a threatening way but fixed enough to let her know he meant it.

‘Why’s that?’

‘Do you know she never once came to visit me here?’

‘Is that why you’re not upset?’

Shaun ignored the question again, glancing away towards the bank of windows high up the walls. ‘Have you spoken to Em?’

‘Your sister? Yes we have.’

‘She’s been a few times. She even talked about helping me when I get out.’

‘That’s nice.’

‘Yeah, it is. She’s done well since she got away. I guess she told you all about Mum’s job.’

‘Yes.’

Jessica didn’t know what she expected to get from the conversation with Shaun that she hadn’t already heard from Emily and Kim, especially as he hadn’t seen his mother for over two years, but she felt she had to keep prodding him. With a lack of other leads, he was at least someone who might have an insight.

‘Why did you move out here?’ she asked.

Shaun shook his head and then rubbed his forehead with his hand. ‘I just wanted to get away. A few years ago Mum had moved out of our house ’cos she had no money and set up in that flat. She was always drinking and there was no room anyway. Em was a bit older and moved out straight away. There wasn’t much there for me, so I went too. Some kid I knew from school that I still knocked about with reckoned there was some building work out here. It’s not like I had anything better to do.’

‘How old were you?’

‘Sixteen. I ended up bunking in this disused pub for a few months. We had a great time; the work was easy and we got paid cash. No one really said anything.’

‘Was that the last time you saw your mother?’

‘Nah, I went back a few times but she was still in that flat with Kim and she had moved on from the drink . . .’

Jessica let his answer hang for a moment. ‘How did you end up in here?’

‘It was my own fault. I’d been to visit Mum earlier in the day and we ended up arguing. I was doing okay then – earning a bit of money and I had my own place out here. It was nothing special but it was good enough for me. I’d said something about her having to sort herself out for Kim’s sake. I know Emily had been saying it too.’

‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know really. When I got back here, I’d gone out for a few drinks and things just . . . happened.’

‘I mean what happened with the argument?’

Shaun looked at Jessica, then away from her again. ‘She blamed me.’

‘For what?’

‘Everything.’

Jessica was clearly confused. She looked at Cole, who also seemed slightly bemused. It was the inspector who spoke next. ‘Why did she blame you?’

Shaun closed his eyes and breathed out deeply. Jessica didn’t know if he was going to say anything but then came a quiet: ‘Because it’s my fault.’

There were now tears in Shaun’s eyes but Jessica felt there was something important still left to be said. ‘Why is it your fault?’

Shaun spoke slowly and didn’t look up from a spot on the table he seemed fixated on. ‘When Dad left, we all held it together pretty well really. It was hard but Mum managed to keep us all in the house. Then . . . everything fell apart because of me.’

Jessica shifted onto the edge of her seat and leant in towards the table. ‘What did you do?’

Shaun wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked towards her. ‘I can’t tell you.’

‘You can.’

‘I can’t. I’m about to get out. I want to sort things out with Em and have a normal life.’

‘Shaun . . .’ The prisoner looked up at Jessica, meeting her eyes. ‘Someone killed your mother last week and whatever you have to say could be the key thing in finding out who that was.’

Shaun closed his eyes and breathed out deeply before opening them and staring at Jessica. His eyes narrowed slightly and he said two words softly but clearly. ‘Nigel Collins.’