Five names in succession on the notepad. Each of them a victim, yet all of them were speaking to Beth. Their voices almost became one as they mocked her for her failure to solve the case. Loudest of all were the vicious tongues of the cultured, but acerbic Fiona McGhie and the half-educated, coarse scouse accent of Caitlin Russell. Rachel Allen was full of accusations about Beth letting her down, while the two men implored Beth to give their families the closure of justice.

Beth re-ordered the names on her list in several ways to try and find a pattern.

Old to young didn’t make any sense as the oldest victim was the first and the youngest the last. Reversing the list didn’t work as the middle three victims’ ages were out of sync with the order of their deaths.

Rather than list them horizontally, Beth tried listing them vertically, and added their jobs and careers alongside:

• Angus Keane – Builder
• Nick Langley – Builder
• Rachel Allen – Secretary
• Fiona McGhie – Artist
• Caitlin Russell – Unknown / Unemployed ???

As soon as she’d written the five names, she realised her mistake. It had been habit that had made her write them that way, as it was the order in which she thought of them: that’s how they’d been introduced to her. She re-wrote the order of the list from the victims’ discovery to the chronology of their murders:

• Fiona McGhie – Artist
• Rachel Allen – Secretary
• Angus Keane – Builder
• Nick Langley – Builder
• Caitlin Russell – Unknown / Unemployed ???

No matter how she stared at the names, they didn’t speak to her in a way she could understand the connections between them.

With nothing obvious coming to her, she decided to grab a drink and give her brain a chance to reboot itself.

‘D’you want a cuppa, Paul?’

Unthank was the only one in the office. Thompson was off speaking to Fiona McGhie’s neighbours again, and O’Dowd was in conference with the DCI, ACC and the press officer. It was a meeting Beth was delighted not to attend.

‘Please.’

As she waited on the kettle boiling, she considered Unthank’s reason for being off yesterday. She’d not seen him leave the office even once today, which suggested he’d been cured of the sickness he’d suffered from.

Except it must not have been a miracle cure. He’d picked at a sandwich for lunch, but that didn’t explain the lapses of concentration he’d shown today. He was normally a solid worker, focussed on the task at hand. For him to be daydreaming indicated that he was undergoing something more than a bout of food poisoning.

When she’d asked how he was this morning, he’d looked away from her and given a mumbled reply. She could only think of one reason he was being evasive. He’d been dumped and couldn’t face work yesterday. He’d tried to get through today, but his mind had kept returning to his ex. It explained everything.

Rather than confront him with what may be a wrong idea, Beth decided to do a little fishing to find out if she was right. He’d either tell her or he wouldn’t, but she wouldn’t pry or badger him for an answer.

‘Are you seeing Lana when you finish? Or has she got the bug you had yesterday?’

Unthank’s head turned away from her. When he spoke, his muttered answer was heavy with raw emotion.

‘Not tonight.’

She had her confirmation and decided to leave the conversation where it was.

It would have remained that way, had Unthank not looked so distraught.

After letting him have a minute to himself she walked over and rested a hand on his elbow.

When he lifted his head she found herself looking at a broken man.

‘You’ve worked it out, haven’t you?’

‘That you and Lana have split?’ Beth gave a little shrug. ‘I guessed, that’s all. It’s none of my business, so you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.’

Unthank’s lip wobbled as he shook his head. ‘She said that she doesn’t love me any more. That I suffocate her. She’s moving back to her parents. It’s the only reason I’m in today. I couldn’t bear to watch her walk out of my life.’

‘I don’t know what to say beyond the clichés and platitudes you don’t want to hear. Yes, time will heal your broken heart. Yes, you should get back in the saddle as soon as possible, and yes, you will be okay in the end, but the next few days are going to be shit and there’s not a lot anyone can do to take the pain away for you. Shit as it is, having your heart broken is something that happens to pretty much everyone at some point in their life. I guess it’s just your turn.’

A wan smile pulled its way onto Unthank’s face as a fat tear rolled down his cheek.

‘Thanks.’

‘Don’t mention it.’ Beth nodded towards the door. ‘Maybe go to the toilet and wash your face before anyone else comes in though, yeah?’

As she flopped back onto her seat, her eyes were drawn to the list of names.

She saw it before her backside connected with the chair’s thin padding. In her revised listing, the initials of the Christian names of the victims was an acrostic that spelled out the word ‘FRANC’:

• Fiona McGhie – Artist
• Rachel Allen – Secretary
• Angus Keane – Builder
• Nick Langley – Builder
• Caitlin Russell – Unknown / Unemployed ???