Hoyle took a deep breath, and the glare in his eyes said that he was trying to stay calm. ‘I’m not interested in your fucking artistic fulfilment, or whatever it is that drives you,’ Hoyle hissed angrily. ‘I’m telling you for your own good. I know what Don Roberts and his cronies can do. Remember, I’ve helped them get away with plenty, and there are cases that you don’t hear about, because I helped to keep them away from the court.’

‘Bully for you,’ Jack snapped back. ‘The difference between you and me is that I can pick and choose what I do, but you can’t, because you’re on the payroll.’

‘What if I can get you access?’ Hoyle said.

Jack laughed bitterly. ‘Access? To what?’

‘To Don, to write his story,’ Hoyle said. ‘Don wants you to contact the leak, to send information to him, but there is another way. You could write about Don Roberts, but just write it up how Don wants it, not how the police do. It might bring people forward.’

‘Why should I want to? I’m not sure anyone would be that interested.’

Hoyle considered Jack for a few moments, and then he sighed. ‘Let’s not talk around it, okay. This is off the record.’

Jack thought about that and then nodded, and Hoyle’s eyes widened as Jack reached into his pocket to turn off the voice recorder. ‘It must have switched itself on,’ he said, as Hoyle shook his head, disbelievingly.

‘We both know that Don Roberts doesn’t exactly lead a regular nine-to-five,’ Hoyle said, once he saw that the red light was no longer on. ‘In one sense, he’s a businessman, except that he likes to keep his methods and profits to himself. Fine, that’s his problem. I don’t give him tax and business advice. I just help his casual employees when they get into trouble.’

‘Why you?’

‘Because he thinks I’m good, and because I work from home. I know I’ve got a big firm’s name on the letterhead, but I’m left alone to do the work in Blackley. Provided that I bill properly, the firm is happy, and Don Roberts doesn’t want a building full of clerks and secretaries in Blackley knowing his business. And he needs me handy. He pays me privately for those special friends of his, and so I don’t have to do all the Legal Services Commission bullshit with him.’

‘But why the turn around?’ Jack said. ‘Roberts was snarling threats this morning, and now he’s offering the exclusive. I don’t understand.’

‘It’s not that complicated,’ Hoyle said. ‘He knows which battles to fight, and which ones to back away from. He’s hurt about the story in the paper this morning. He called me and wanted to know whether he could sue anyone, but I told him that there was nothing untrue in there. I also told him that there are more ways to play the same tune. He’s not happy, but he wants to find Jane’s killer. If using you does that, he’s prepared to work with you.’

Jack shook his head. ‘The deal works both ways though.’ Hoyle looked confused, so Jack added, ‘I’ve got to want to work with him. I told Roberts this morning that I wasn’t interested in helping him out, and nothing has changed. Besides, your angle doesn’t work. People who know Don will know why he wants the information, and won’t be sucked in by some father’s cry. Those who don’t know him won’t call him, because no one is interested in Don Roberts, because he hasn’t paraded himself at the police press conferences with a tissue in his hand. The public have got to like him to help him. That’s not fair, but that’s the world. And so the answer is no, I’m not interested. If I change my mind, I’ll get in touch.’

Jack went to leave the room, but Hoyle gripped his arm and said, ‘Don’t mess with Roberts. You can hide behind your pen, but it is still only a pen, and Roberts has got more dangerous weapons than that, and a very long memory.’

Jack looked down at Hoyle’s hand around his arm and then yanked it away. ‘Good to hear it.’

Hoyle stared at Jack for a few seconds, and then he picked up his files and marched out of the room.

When Jack was alone again, his teeth chewed a furrow into his lip. He was freelance so that he could do things his way, and when he thought of Don Roberts, he knew there was only one way, and that was Don’s way. But Jack knew that he had just created a very powerful enemy.

Laura watched the squad look up as Carson barged in. Her eyes felt heavy from her midnight meeting with Carson. Rachel Mason tracked Joe Kinsella as he followed Carson into the room, and then she glanced at Laura, before turning away and looking back at her computer screen.

The meeting had the same format as the day before. Joe was at the front, just behind a silent Carson, keeping an eye on people’s faces. Laura sat at the back to listen out for the whispers.

There was a sense of frustration that they were getting nowhere with the investigation. It had been forty-eight hours since Jane had been found and nothing had turned up so far. They had knocked on doors, spoken to the town’s peepers and perverts, pestered the forensic science lab for results, but still they had no leads. The mood in the room was tetchy and Carson wasn’t about to improve things. He slammed the door shut when everyone was in, making the newspaper on the desk flutter. It was folded in half so that Carson could reveal it as a surprise for those who hadn’t seen it.

Carson folded his arms and spoke to the group.

‘Has anyone thought of anything that will bring us closer to the killer?’ he asked, the words coming out with a growl.

Some people exchanged glances, the occasional shrug, but no one spoke.

Carson nodded to himself and then turned to the desk behind him. He lifted the newspaper and opened it out, showing the headline over the photograph of Jane Roberts.

‘Remember this?’ he said. ‘A leak, disclosing squad secrets. We had to release a story to try and expose him, and that meant giving details of how Jane Roberts was found.’ He looked at all the faces in the room. No one was averting his gaze. ‘I said yesterday that whoever was leaking secrets to reporters had a chance to leave the squad, no questions asked.’ He threw the newspaper back onto the desk. ‘I’m glad to see that you’re all still here, because something happened last night that changed things.’ He reached for an A3 piece of paper that had been face down on the desk. When he lifted it up, there were murmurs around the room.

Carson was holding up the photograph of Jane Roberts that had been emailed the night before.

‘The more observant amongst you will notice that Jane looks a little fresher than when we found her, and she’s wearing clothes. It was sent to Jack Garrett last night, McGanity’s paramour. So this means one thing: whoever sent those emails is the killer because she was naked when she was found and so the killer must have taken the photograph.’ He banged his hand hard onto the desk. ‘We’ve lost a day already, by not looking at them hard enough. The emails are the key now. We have direct contact.’

Carson let that hang in the air for a few seconds, and then he said, ‘McGanity was almost run down last night, and we think it was our man, because the emails mention it. He referred to Laura by name, and so he knows who is on the squad. He knew that Jack Garrett had been here yesterday. We need to be vigilant. Keep an eye on your mirrors. Watch out for people hanging around near your house. Make sure you know where your family is.’ He paused, and was met with silence again. No one seemed cowed. ‘The email also said that there was another victim last night.’ That sent a buzz of whispers around the room. He pointed to two detectives sitting alongside Laura. ‘You two. Compile a list of all Escort or Astra vans, light brown in colour.’ He pointed to two more. ‘Get in touch with Google. Find out which IP address was used to send these emails. Don’t let them fob you off.’