‘Talk to me,’ Kate said, when she’d signed in to SSD, and been escorted to the lab Ben was once again working out of.

Ben slid the laptop over to her. ‘His name was Petr Nowakowski.’

‘Polish?’ Laura asked, joining them.

‘Parents were,’ Ben confirmed, ‘but both Petr and his younger sister Ana were born in the UK.’

‘How did you identify him?’ Kate asked, trying to skim read the report in front of her.

‘DNA matched his profile in the system, and I did a bit of extra digging to be certain: as a teenager, Petr was fitted with a pacemaker after being diagnosed with bradycardia.’

‘So, it’s definitely him, then.’

Ben removed his latex gloves and protective suit, depositing them in the sanitary bin. ‘I’m afraid so. Good news for you is you have a name and last known address.’

‘Anything to indicate how he died? I’m doubting it was natural causes.’

‘I wouldn’t be so certain. Given his medical history, I wouldn’t rule anything out. There was sufficient damage to the muscle to suggest it had come under recent strain. That could indicate that he was in a stressful situation immediately prior to death, or that his pacemaker was starting to fail.’

‘Fail?’

‘Pacemakers run on batteries, and they don’t last forever. In fact, most pacemakers are replaced every seven years, and it had been almost that long since he’d last been under the knife according to his medical records.’

‘You seriously think he had a heart attack and what, removed and posted me the heart himself.’

‘Don’t be facetious, Kate. All I’m saying is you shouldn’t rule out natural causes. Who and why someone sent you the heart as a souvenir is beyond me.’

She nodded her understanding; it wasn’t his fault there wasn’t more to go on.

Ben sighed. ‘I’m going to get myself a drink; do either of you want anything?’

‘No, thanks,’ Kate said for them both, returning her eyes to the screen.

Laura, who had been reading the screen over Kate’s shoulder, suddenly gasped. ‘I remember this guy. I interviewed him with Patel… must be three years ago maybe… yeah, that’s him, charged for his involvement in an armed robbery.’

‘Armed robbery? And out already?’

‘From memory, he was given a reduced sentence for cooperating and giving up the rest of the gang. His evidence helped secure convictions against the other five members.’

‘Revenge attack, then?’ Kate suggested. ‘One of the other gang members?’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ Laura said, taking control of the laptop and running a search. ‘Look here: the rest of the gang are still behind bars. I remember the case now.’ She began to read, sharing the salient points. ‘Nowakowski was the getaway driver… but was only brought along at the last minute when the original driver wasn’t able to make the heist… The original driver was being questioned in relation to something separate, but the job they were planning was time sensitive, so they proceeded with Nowakowski… The raid was on a security depot in Fareham.’ Laura paused and looked up at Kate. ‘It was a couple of months before you joined the department, ma’am. I was still in uniform back then.’

‘Explains why I don’t remember it, then. What else can you recall?’

Laura focused back on the screen. ‘They kidnapped the depot’s manager and her family, and forced her to help them gain entry… The leader escorted the manager into the building – signed in as a visiting regional manager or something, I think – while the others waited in a lorry to take delivery of the cash trolleys. Nowakowski was supposed to be waiting in a fast car in case something went wrong, but he was running late and got pulled over for speeding…’

Laura stifled a chuckle. ‘They’d hit the place on a Wednesday, oblivious to the fact that the depot was due to test its fire evacuation procedures that day. Suddenly the fire alarm sounds and the workforce spill out and gather at the muster point, which just happens to be outside the loading dock where the gang are filling the lorry.

‘The patrol car following Nowakowski has now sussed what’s going on and called for backup. Within minutes, the place is surrounded by blue lights. Nowakowski confessed everything he knew, wanting to spare himself hard prison time… According to this, he served eighteen months of a four-year stretch.’

Kate didn’t see the funny side. ‘Was anybody hurt?’

Laura composed herself before continuing. ‘No, ma’am. I think everyone involved was pretty shaken, but the gang saw sense before shooting anyone.’

‘Just because the rest of the group are inside, doesn’t mean they couldn’t arrange for someone on the outside to complete the deed. You know what modern prison is like: operations are still run, regardless of whether the leader is inside. I think our first port of call should be the front runner to see what he has to say about it.’

‘So why send you the heart? You weren’t involved in the arrest.’

‘He grassed them up, so maybe the heart is symbolic of him turning on them… I don’t know. But they wanted us to know that they’d got to him, and I guess it sends out a message to the criminal underworld: grass and you know what’ll happen to you.’

‘So, where’s the rest of him?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine: burned; buried; chucked in a river. Who knows? We may never find the rest of him if this gang were involved. We’d better brief the team. I’ll send Patel to the prison to speak with the crew.’

Ben was just returning as they were leaving, and held the door open.

‘Thanks for this, Ben,’ Kate said. ‘Can you email me what you’ve got?’

He smiled. ‘Of course. Glad I could help.’ Moving closer to her, he whispered, ‘Come to mine for dinner tonight?’

After the last two nights of worrying about Tara, nothing sounded better. ‘I’ll bring wine.’