While they waited for Leighton Matthews’ solicitor to arrive, Alex and Chloe went to the incident room to speak with the rest of the team. The room was a buzz of activity, with much of the team now confined to their desks while CCTV footage was checked and communications between suspects reviewed. Superintendent Blake was present, watching over proceedings in his usual quiet manner.

‘You’re all aware of Tom Stoddard’s death,’ Alex told the team. ‘I’ve asked for the PM to be considered a priority. Leah Cross, as you know, has gone AWOL from the hospital – let’s make finding her a priority, please. We need to speak with as many people from Railway Terrace as we can, see if anyone saw her between five o’clock yesterday afternoon and ten this morning. Leighton Matthews has been brought in for questioning. We’re waiting for his solicitor to arrive. In the meantime, there have been a few developments. Turns out he took his car to a garage yesterday morning for a full valet. There was also a dent to the front bumper that was repaired. Leighton claimed he’d taken the car in because the engine kept cutting out on him, but the garage said there was no evidence of that.’

There were murmurs among the team members.

‘Enough to nail him?’ DC Jake Sullivan asked.

‘Unlikely,’ Alex admitted. ‘We’re not going to get a confession any time soon, so we’re going to have to broaden our review of the CCTV footage from the area – we’re not looking wide enough. We need to put his car within a mile radius of Leah Cross’s house on Wednesday night. We might have to think a bit sideways here with regard to what route he might have taken to get to Treforest. He’s not stupid … this was likely to have been planned well in advance.’

‘There’s also the fact that the car seemed to have been waiting there,’ Chloe said. ‘Matthews couldn’t have known what time Leah would be home, so he must have waited for her to come back. How long did he wait? Perhaps we’re not checking the footage early enough.’

Alex addressed Jake, who was sitting in front of her. ‘I’d like you to go and speak with Melissa Matthews, Leighton’s wife. He claims he was with her all of Wednesday evening … let’s see if she offers the same account. We’ve got reason to suspect that Matthews may have been involved with Leah Cross. His colleague at the university, Anna Stapleton, claims he had a relationship with an ex-student a few years ago, plus there’s the allegation made against him by another student that we already know about.’

‘Has he admitted to being involved with Leah?’ Dan asked.

Alex shook her head. ‘He’s not prepared to say much until his solicitor arrives. He’s been in a similar situation before; he knows the drill.’

‘So we’re thinking Matthews hit Leah Cross with his car because he was having a relationship with her and wanted to shut her up?’

The question came from Superintendent Blake, whose eyes Alex had felt fixed upon her during the last few minutes. His scepticism was tangible, even now.

‘For the moment, yes. His car is with forensics; there might still be something they’re able to pick up.’

‘And how does this link to Keira North’s death?’

The room fell silent for a moment, the tension between the two apparent to everyone present. Alex held the superintendent’s stare. This was her team; once he was gone, she was going to have to continue working with them. She wasn’t going to be undermined in front of them, not by Blake or anyone else.

‘That’s what we need to find out,’ she admitted. ‘It might be the case that Keira found out about the relationship between Leah and Matthews. If so, he could have wanted her kept quiet too. Another affair exposed – how much more could his marriage be put through before it snapped? How much more could he get away with before his position at the university was compromised? There’s also Tom Stoddard’s drug dealing to consider. We don’t yet know if his death is linked to that, or if it’s linked to what happened to the two girls. Perhaps all three incidents are connected. In his interview, Tom accused Leah of orchestrating the drug dealing. Keira might have got herself unwittingly involved in something there. Wherever she comes into this, I believe Keira North was an innocent. She got herself mixed up somewhere she wasn’t wanted and she paid the price with her life.’

Blake looked away for the first time. Alex didn’t want their working relationship to end on a negative note, but at the moment he was making that possibility difficult to avoid.

‘The party was the perfect place for someone to kill her. There were lots of people there, plenty of noise – plenty of alcohol, and apparent drug use too. Her death might have easily been written off as an accident.’

Alex knew Blake would realise her last words were intended for him.

‘There was no sign of a break-in at the house on Railway Terrace this morning,’ she continued. ‘Jamie Bateman stayed with a colleague last night, which has been corroborated.’

‘Surely the catalyst in all this is Leah?’ Chloe said.

‘Definitely. Leah Cross, who has now conveniently gone AWOL. She discharged herself from hospital yesterday. I know it’s been a long day already, but let’s try to get on to her bank statements. Dan, we need to know how that money was paid in. Was it cash or transfers? If it was transfers, who from? Let’s get a trace on her phone. Let’s try to find her today, please.’

‘Think she might have gone home?’ Jake asked. ‘To her parents, I mean.’

Alex exhaled loudly. ‘Brownie points to whoever is able to find out where “home” is. Leah Cross provided the university with a false home address. The woman who lives there claims not to know her, so one of them is lying. We need to know why. And whoever speaks to Leah first, just remember it’s becoming increasingly probable we can’t trust a word this girl says.’

She was interrupted by Stuart, one of the desk sergeants, entering the room. ‘Boss,’ he said, ‘we’ve just had a call from the hospital. Amy Barker’s woken up.’