Jessica had been up at six in the morning to watch the coverage on a loop. She had found that watching things over and over could sometimes help clarify the facts in your mind. She first watched the BBC news, then changed channels and watched it on ITV, before returning to the BBC for the local take on it all. She also spent the whole time surfing news websites on her phone. In terms of information released, none of the stations had that much to go on. Aylesbury had hosted a press conference the night before. The first three murder victims’ names had been previously released but Mary Keegan had been added to that list. The media were told Nigel Collins was the chief suspect but the link to the victims’ children had not been revealed.

It would surely only be a matter of time before that got out and Jessica was only half-surprised she hadn’t read the story on the Herald’s website that morning with Garry Ashford’s byline. It was the type of story where he seemed to steal a march on everyone. Aylesbury had been keen to stress that the public were not at risk and the police didn’t believe there was any need for further alarm. It was a fine line as they were pretty sure Nigel Collins had completed his killing spree but couldn’t be sure. It seemed unlikely he would go back for the other parents but perhaps the people who actually tortured him could be targeted.

If it wasn’t leaked, that information almost certainly would be revealed at some point in the next forty-eight hours. It seemed inconceivable the original case into the assault on Nigel Collins would not be reopened.

Randall had stayed over the night before and he and Caroline had got up an hour or so after Jessica and the three of them had watched the news together. ‘Oh God, Jess. This is awful,’ Caroline said as she cuddled into her boyfriend on the sofa.

Jessica had never really told her the full extent of the case and, though it had been in the media consistently through the past few weeks, this coverage seemed so much more real given the graphic detail everything was now being laid out in. ‘It’s okay,’ Jessica said, giving her friend a half-smile.

‘It’s sick is what it is,’ Randall said, gripping Caroline tighter and kissing the top of her head.

Jessica had to leave them to it. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day, something which was confirmed as she pulled her car onto the road the station was on. She could see a full media scrum outside the gates. She often took the turn into the station in third gear and one of the other officers once claimed he’d seen her car take it on two wheels. On this occasion, she had to stop and crawl through the mass of people. There were television cameras and flashes going off from photographers’ cameras. She drove slowly, being careful not to hit anyone, and saw Garry Ashford off to one side as well. In the fleeting glimpse she got, he seemed slightly overwhelmed with the mass of people pushing and shoving.

Scott Keegan had been kept in the cells under the station overnight after returning from Liverpool late the previous evening. They could hold him for up to twenty-four hours without charge but the intention had only been to keep him in until the morning. By then the news about Nigel Collins would be widely known and they could speak to him.

Jessica parked and entered through the station’s main entrance. In the reception area, there was a television high on the wall above a rank of chairs for people who had to wait there. A few years previously, someone had managed to steal an old TV from a similar spot, despite being in the reception of a police station. There had been much mickey-taking at the time. The replacement was usually turned off but had a rolling news channel switched on with the sound turned up as Jessica walked in. She glanced sideways at it and could see an outside shot of the door she had just walked in.

‘They didn’t get your good side, did they?’ laughed the desk sergeant, who was pointing at the screen. Jessica ignored him, breezing towards the stairs to check in with Aylesbury. Cole was also present, of course, and the morning update was as she would have expected. All three Nigel Collinses from the previous day had been ruled out, which left them with no one.

Initial forensic results were back, which meant someone would have been working late into the night. Mary Keegan had been strangled in the exact way as the previous victims but it was suspected, as with Yvonne Christensen, that she had been asleep. There was next to no evidence of a struggle. As Jessica had thought, all of the blood in the bedroom belonged to the victim, with nothing in the way of DNA from anyone other than the husband. In some ways that kind of evidence was irrelevant as they knew who they were after. But, if and when they found Nigel Collins, it would have been useful in tying him to the scenes for a trial.

The DCI did tell them that word had come down that the Nigel Collins assault case was going to be reopened. Given the way the two cases would be linked together, it was the only thing that could realistically happen. A separate set of officers would return to Leeds Prison to speak to Shaun Hogan again. When Jessica and Cole had spoken to him the previous day, he wasn’t under caution as he wasn’t considered a witness in the murder of Claire Hogan; he was behind bars after all. They had gone to talk to him to see if there was any background he could give them to help discover who killed his mother. The hope was that he would repeat what he had told them on tape and under caution. Having seen his demeanour the previous day, Jessica felt that he would.

After the meeting with her superiors, it was then the main team briefing. In itself, it threw up very little but there was at least a buzz considering everything that had happened in the past day. Rowlands had been sent back to visit Wayne Lapham. Although he wasn’t a suspect, they still didn’t know if he was linked to Nigel Collins. Given his record it could quite conceivably be true that he had happened to burgle from two of the four murder victims but how that could relate back to their prime suspect was just another mystery in a long list.

Following that, Jessica and Cole went to the interview room to talk to Scott Keegan. Jessica almost felt sorry for him when he was brought up. He was more or less as she would have pictured him given Shaun Hogan’s story. He was short with sandy-coloured short hair but looked strong across his shoulders. That was undermined by his pale white skin and the bags under his eyes; he didn’t seem as if he had slept much. He had been told in the cells he was entitled to legal advice. He hadn’t wanted to speak to his father on the phone and, as he didn’t have much money of his own, had opted for the duty solicitor. Jessica thought he already looked defeated as he was led in. There was no swagger and none of the cockiness someone like Wayne Lapham had.

Cole started the tape and went through the usual spiel but Jessica had conducted enough interviews to know the young man sitting in front of her was going to confess to everything. When he had finished speaking, it was Jessica’s turn. ‘Do you know why you’re here, Scott?’

He didn’t look up. ‘Yes.’

‘I want to ask you about Nigel Collins.’

No answer.

‘Scott?’

He still didn’t respond.

‘Scott, you know that name, don’t you?’

From nowhere, Scott exploded into tears. Jessica couldn’t make out much in the way of words from him, only sobs. No one said anything, allowing his cries to echo. ‘Are you okay, Scott?’ Jessica asked.

It seemed as if the solicitor was about to step in but, as he reached forwards, Scott said: ‘It’s why she’s dead, isn’t it?’ His words were still half-drowned by tears but could be clearly made out. Jessica saw no reason to hide the truth; he would know soon enough anyway.

‘We think so, yes. We think Nigel Collins murdered your mother yesterday.’