Gina rewatched the appeal that had aired on the lunchtime local news. Someone had to come forward. Tapping her fingers on her desk, she scanned the files in front of her, catching sight of the girl’s photo. The one of her lying in the hospital bed. She’d been too weak to pull through. She turned the photo over, not wanting to look at it any longer. Someone tapped at her office door. ‘Come in.’

Wyre sat opposite her and brushed her trousers with her hands, in her usual neat way. ‘The lines are going mad from the appeal. Nothing serious to follow up on as yet and everyone’s on it.’

‘How’s it going, pin-pointing all the possible places Darren Mason may have stopped?’

‘He’s been fairly cooperative since we’ve released him on bail. He remembers several places he stopped but he says he can’t remember all of them. I’ve been going through his whole route and he agrees the route we marked on the map was the route he took. There are so many little passing places and pull in areas, there could be a few more. I’ve made a list of places to check, businesses, houses etcetera, and I’m hoping to be able to head out this afternoon to do the legwork. I asked Smith. He looks stressed, to be fair, but he said he’ll assist us for a couple of hours and there are a few members of his team that can come along too.’

‘Sounds like all is organised for the door to doors. Such a large area to cover.’

‘How are things with you, guv? Found out much else?’

‘Only what we discussed in the briefing. I was speaking to Jacob earlier and went back for a look at the information that has come back from forensics so far. The full pathologist’s report isn’t complete as yet.’ She paused and turned the photo back over. ‘I can’t stop thinking about the burned off fingerprints. I reread the report. It mentioned that there was a circular shape in the burning. It made me think of car lighters, the ones you press in that heat up. It’s not confirmed as yet, but it seems like a possibility.’

Wyre picked a piece of lint from the shoulder of her crisp white shirt. ‘Ouch. That sounds horrible.’

Gina picked the only nail she’d successfully managed to grow. ‘It would hurt so much, there’s no way someone could do that to themselves.’

‘What if the drugs masked the pain?’

‘They’d probably also affect her coordination. Look at this.’ Gina turned the screen around so that Wyre could see it.

‘They’re all perfectly centred.’

‘Too perfect for someone who is writhing in agony or has just shot up. It didn’t even look like she’d put up a struggle. There’s no evidence to show that whoever did this missed the target at any point. If someone was singeing my skin I’d be wriggling around, frantically trying to get away. There’s not one burn mark that looks like it’s gone over the outer circle.’

‘Maybe she was sedated.’

‘That’s what I was thinking. It’s looking even more sinister now.’ Gina turned her screen back and flicked to the photo of the disc with the letters E Ho scrawled across the front. ‘Then we have the dog tag with the letters E Ho. Had she stolen or found it? Are those initials hers or did the disc end up in Darren Mason’s van by some other means? I go with the thought that the girl had it on her. The report mentioned that traces of her blood were found on the disc, probably from the abdominal wound. Whether she found it in the van, who knows? Maybe she isn’t E Ho, maybe she is. The appeal needs to come up with something and it needs to be quick.’

Her phone rang. Wyre sat back as Gina took the call. ‘DI Harte.’

‘I think…’ the woman began to sob. ‘The girl you found, she might be my daughter.’