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She told us she was going to leave him.’
    ‘When was this?’ asked Kate.
    ‘A few weeks ago, maybe a month. She’d had doubts for a while. They were together for nearly a year, but the last few weeks . . . her mood changed. She became very insular, sullen, quiet. She seemed to have a lot on her mind, and then about a month ago, I think, she just said it. Told me she had a decision to make, and then later she said Dan wasn’t going to be part of her future.’
    ‘How did he take it?’
    ‘I have no idea. The thing is, that’s why I’m so worried,’ said Laura. ‘Ruby didn’t tell me exactly when she would break up with Dan. But I can imagine his reaction . . . he’s not a well person. Oh, God . . .’
    ‘You keep saying he’s not well, Laura. Why would you think that? Please help me understand,’ said Kate. She leaned forward, closing the space between them. Pressure or intimacy, both yielded results. It was standard Reid interview body language. Standard for US law enforcement.
    ‘He’s a psycho,’ said Mike. ‘If Ruby had dumped him, I don’t think he would have just let her go. He was obsessed with her, and he manipulated her.’
    ‘How?’ said Kate.
    ‘Well with the vlogs she did. He made her start doing them with him. She had her own success, but he started to say things like she didn’t love him, and to prove that she did, she should make videos with him. So her vlogs started to become ones in which Dan would feature with her.’
    ‘When we tried to reason with her, remind her how much her vlogging was a part of her, she just accused us of hating Dan and interfering,’ said Laura. ‘And one particular row I remember. Well, I don’t remember what it was about, but Ruby was livid. She was screaming at us, hurling accusations at us. And all through it, Dan sat there, and on his face . . . on his face was the biggest self-satisfied grin. As though he had orchestrated the whole thing, and was sitting back to watch Ruby do his bidding. Oh, God, why didn’t we stop her from seeing him?’
    ‘Laura, Mike, why are you so convinced Dan would be capable of something like this? Causing arguments with your girlfriend’s parents is a far cry from kidnapping. Do you really feel you have reason to believe Dan might be behind this?’
    Laura looked at Mike, and nodded.

Chapter Eleven
    ‘Yes,’ said Mike. ‘When Laura said he wasn’t well, it’s an understatement.’
    ‘What has he done to make you think that?’ said Kate.
    ‘A few months ago, back in July, I think, Dan had a birthday party,’ said Mike. ‘Don’t you see, this makes sense . . . it has to be him. The fucked-up little bastard.’
    ‘Mike, please, as soon as I leave here I will find Dan. But I still need to know why you think he might be responsible. You were saying about his birthday party?’
    ‘Yes. He had his birthday party . . . He’s only twenty-one, although he’s got enough evil in him . . . He had it in a hotel, one of the expensive ones, I can’t remember which now. Anyway, it was one with a swimming pool. His party was in the penthouse suite, so about twenty floors up, or something ridiculous. You know the sort. Alcohol, drugs, sex. It was crazy, from what we heard.’
    ‘Heard from Ruby?’ said Kate.
    ‘Christ, no, she didn’t go. She wasn’t invited. It was for his gaming pals, his boys.’
    ‘So what happened?’ said Kate.
    ‘Dan, the crazy little shit, was stoned and drunk. And he wanted to know what happened if you tried to fly out the window.’
    ‘From twenty floors up? Did he try?’ said Kate.
    ‘Did he fuck,’ said Mike. ‘Little coward.’
    ‘Then what happened?’ Kate got a sense of what he would say next.
    ‘He threw a woman off the balcony instead,’ said Mike. ‘Into an empty swimming pool.’
    Kate jumped as Mike’s phone rang.
    He answered it automatically. ‘Hello?’ He listened, wide-eyed, looked at his wife. ‘Thank you for telling us.’
    He