O’Dowd powered down her computer and gave Beth a long hard stare. Returning it, Beth saw that there were bags developing beneath the DI’s eyes and that her shoulders had a stoop to them which she’d never seen before.

‘Everyone else has beggared off, yet you’re still here. I’d have been gone by now if Phinn hadn’t rambled on needlessly for hours about the need to find our killer and left me to catch up on my paperwork after he’d gone home.’ She brushed a hand through her hair. ‘Jeez, I can’t believe he thinks we need motivating after seeing the victim.’ O’Dowd shook her head. ‘Right then, Beth, cards on the table, you’re smart, there’s no denying that, you also have initiative and you see things more experienced officers need to have pointed out to them. What I want to know is, what drives you?’

Beth didn’t have to think about the answer. ‘I want to right the wrongs, ma’am. Too often people get off with whatever crime they’ve committed. That’s not right. Not right by the law and certainly not right for the victims expecting justice.’ She pointed at her scarred cheek with the pen she was holding. ‘I didn’t get it, so I know exactly what it’s like to have your life turned upside down through no fault of your own. How it feels to see the people who’ve wronged you receive no punishment whatsoever.’

‘I thought that might be the case, but I wanted to make sure. Just promise me one thing, Beth.’

‘Ma’am?’

‘What happened to you was terrible, but while the desire to bring justice is a wonderful thing, it needs to be guided by an open mind. I don’t want you setting your sights on the wrong person rather than admitting you’ve got no leads. There no place on FMIT for vigilantes.’

Beth stood, struggling to keep her tone respectful. ‘I’m not some crazy vigilante. I believe that victims deserve justice. Nothing more, nothing less.’

‘So our little tiger cub has claws.’ O’Dowd’s smile was disarming. ‘I’m pleased to see it. Sit back down, Beth, and wipe that scowl off your face. You’ve just been tested, don’t turn a pass into a fail.’

Beth sat and turned back to her screen.

O’Dowd called over, ‘That list you mentioned earlier, have you finished it?’

The reason she was here so late was to finish working on the list of evacuees. ‘Not yet, but I’ll have it done in another hour or so.’

‘Good lass. Do that and then bugger off home. We’ll be going through it in the morning with a nit comb.’

‘What are your thoughts, ma’am?’

O’Dowd rubbed her eyes before answering. ‘My experience tells me that until we get something more concrete to pursue, we need to follow every lead we get, examine every last piece of data.’

Beth returned to the screen and typed in the name of the next evacuee. The result spat out by the computer made her add the boy’s name to the deceased column. Then she started on the list of the teachers who’d travelled with the children to continue their education and the locals brought in to care for them. She gasped when she saw a name connected to the evacuees. Beth dashed to the corridor, but was too late. O’Dowd had left for the evening.

Her discovery would have to wait until morning.