Strangers: The unforgettable crime thriller from the #1 bestseller

‘Not as far as I’m aware, though this could change everything. New crime scene, new evidence. We’ll have to wait and see what the forensic teams make of it.’

‘At least she’s only killing men,’ Cora said.

Lucy glanced round at her. ‘Personally, I’d rather she wasn’t killing anyone.’

‘So do I, but, well …’ Cora shrugged and sipped again. ‘I know lots of women who’ve had a rough time over the years thanks to the fellas in their lives.’

If Lucy had been surprised by the previous comment from her normally mild-mannered mum, she was even more surprised by this. Cora’s friends, whom she sometimes went out for a couple of drinks with at the Labour Club, all seemed pretty normal: mostly married and with grown-up kids, the majority of them hard-workers and gentle souls.

‘But all this dirty business, you know …’ Cora shook her head, a pink dot on either cheek. ‘Girls going out at weekends, making a show of themselves. You’ve seen them in the town centre. Practically nothing on. And they’re not even prostitutes. Blokes sniffing round them like dogs at the butcher’s dustbin …’

‘Mum, for God’s sake!’ Lucy exclaimed.

‘Well, what do you expect to happen, Lucy? You’re not telling me that won’t lead to trouble. But maybe now that it’s trouble for the men things will change.’

‘It’s not all men, Mum.’

‘No, of course it’s not all men. But look at the problems only a handful have created.’

Not for the first time, Lucy found herself wondering about the father she’d never met.

Dan the Bus Driver.