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The incident room was deserted, somehow encapsulating the lack of energy and belief the team were currently feeling.

Yet even amidst the lifeless hush, there was some life, the tiniest semblance of a dull, repetitive noise disturbing the peace.

Scanning the room, Charlie was not surprised to find DC Malik back at her workstation, bulky, noise-cancelling headphones attached to her head.

‘Anything good?’ she enquired as she approached, nodding at the headphones.

‘Pardon?’ her colleague returned politely, tugging them off.

‘What are you listening to? Don’t tell me you’re a Swiftie …’

‘Nothing like that,’ DC Malik laughed. ‘I was just going over the hoax calls that Clint Davies made to the Border Force hotline.’

‘Because?’

‘Well, I got in early, just wanted to go back over what he’d said and …’

She hesitated as if uncertain whether to continue then, but taking courage, she pressed on.

‘… well, I think that the sound we can hear in the background on a couple of them, the repetitive, mechanical sound … I think it’s music.’

‘Really?’

‘Have a listen, see what you think.’

She handed Charlie the headphones, who promptly put them on.

As DC Malik pressed ‘Play’, Charlie closed her eyes, focusing all her attention on the recording.

Immediately, Clint Davies’ voice filled her ears, a ghoulish reminder of the man who’d sacrificed his life in his desperation to escape, but Charlie blocked him out, zeroing in on the dull chugging sound in the background.

DC Malik might be onto something; it did have a certain rhythm to it, but it was hard to know for sure.

‘Have we got another clip?’ Charlie asked, lowering her voice on realizing that she’d shouted her request at her startled colleague.

Laughing, DC Malik gave her the thumbs-up, deftly manipulating the mouse to pull up another clip.

Charlie listened once more, taking in the repetitive grind, her sense of conviction growing all the time.

It did appear to be music of some kind and in this recording, there was a brief pause, a lull in the sound for maybe a few seconds, before the noise started up again, this time slightly faster and more intense.

Had this been the gap when one track had finished and another started?

Tugging off the headphones, she removed the jack from the laptop.

‘Let’s both listen to that one again,’ Charlie suggested, DC Malik immediately hitting ‘Play’ once more.

‘It sounds quite full-on, quite heavy. Is it industrial dance? Some offshoot of grime?’

Charlie strained to take in the beat, this time fastening on the furious, urgent rhythm.

‘Or is it metal of some kind? Sounds like it might be …’

Leaning in, DC Malik closed her eyes, screwing up her face in concentration. Then suddenly and unexpectedly, she straightened up, a broad smile spreading across her face.

‘Yeah, I think you’re right,’ she confirmed. ‘It’s thrash metal.’

‘How can you be sure?’ Charlie queried, surprised.

‘I can’t, but for me it fits, the way the accent always falls on the last beat, plus the sheer speed of it.’

‘I didn’t have you down as a metaller?’ Charlie responded, smiling.

‘Angry phase in my teens. We all had shit to deal with back then, right?’

To her surprise, Charlie found herself laughing, catching herself in the process. It seemed like ages since she’d had anything to smile about.

‘So maybe he’s in a bar or a club or something when he makes the call?’ she continued, gathering herself. ‘Can you pull up his movements?’

DC Malik obliged, the forest of red flags filling her screen once more.

‘So that’s his main area of interest, isn’t it?’ Charlie said, indicating a circular shape on the screen. ‘Highfield. Are there any metal bars there?’

‘What about this place?’

Already Malik was zooming in.

‘Exodus. It’s bang in the middle of his area of operations. Specializes in metal of all kinds, but with a heavy accent on thrash. We busted a couple of guys for peddling amphetamines there a month or so back.’

‘Was Davies in that area when he made the latest hoax call?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘And what about on the day we tried to lift him?’

DC Malik checked her screen once more.

‘Yes, his movements were pretty identical. He certainly could have been in Exodus on both days.’

Charlie broke into a smile, the prospect of a concrete lead sending a shiver of excitement through her.

‘Then why don’t we go and pay them a little visit?’