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‘I’m sorry, Dom. There’s nothing on the letter or the envelope. He knows how to avoid forensic detection. I imagine he used gloves and he bought a self-sealing envelope. He didn’t need to lick it. Both the paper and the envelope are commonplace items. I can’t give you anything to chase up. I’ve photocopied the letter and sent it back down to you so you have it for your records.’

Dominic let out a deep sigh. ‘Thanks, Catherine.’

‘I’m sorry it’s not better news.’

‘Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault.’ He’d been hoping there had been a print, one they could compare against Alex Chapman. Not that they had his fingerprints, but it would come with time as the evidence gathered.

‘Sarge . . .’ Hayley broke through his thoughts. He turned and looked at her.

‘The DI wants you. He tried your phone but it was engaged. He said can you go to his office.’ She looked worried.

‘Did he say why?’

‘No, but he didn’t sound happy.’

Dominic knocked on Kapoor’s door and walked in. ‘You wanted me, sir?’

Kapoor stopped typing. ‘Come in and close the door, Dom.’

Dominic did as he was asked and took the seat in front of Kapoor’s desk.

‘Don’t get comfortable, another body has been found.’

Dominic couldn’t believe it. They’d only just dealt with the one from yesterday. ‘What?’

‘The cops on the scene are saying it looks to have been in the ground longer than the last two. It seems he’s been more active than we’ve given him credit for. I need you to go out there and supervise. We need to get something on him. We can’t allow this to continue.’

Dominic stood. ‘The press are going to have a field day.’

Kapoor rose from behind his desk. ‘Yeah, and what’s the killer’s reaction going to be? Be careful, Dom.’

‘I will. But I don’t think there was any threat in the letter. It was more gloating than anything.’

‘Well, I can do without the bastard gloating. Panic will be growing. I have no idea how we’ll contain this.’

Dom walked to the door. ‘We work it as we work any case. We’ll get him.’

Kapoor stroked his chin. ‘I’ll get the extra staff in. We’re going to need it. I’m sorry to dump the body on you again, but as you attended the first two, you know what his MO is. You’re best placed to attend.’

‘It’s fine. I’m happy to do this for the victims.’ And he was. It was a grim job but he felt that once officials were at the scene the victims were finally at peace. Justice was being worked on.

She had been left in Grenoside Woods. She had definitely been in the ground a lot longer than the first two women he had seen. She was decomposed. Fluids were being released and she was a squirming mass of maggots and flies, eyeballs and finger ends eaten away. He couldn’t even guess how old she was.

The process to examine her and remove her from the ground was slower than the other two women, but Dominic stayed by her side for the entire time.

He returned to the station an exhausted mess. No one had identified a possible missing person who would match the murdered woman. At this point she truly was a Jane Doe. An unidentified, unclaimed woman. This made their task all the more difficult because they couldn’t track her last movements or the last people to see her alive. They knew nothing about her life or her activities. Dominic was frustrated. He hoped she’d be identified within the next day or two.

The post-mortem was grim. There were no fingerprints to help with identification because of the start of decomposition and animal activity. But the signs were there that she was again a victim of the now named Sheffield Strangler. She had bruising around her throat as well as a knife wound, and lipstick — barely visible but there — was found in the creases of her mouth.

They had to create a press release that informed and at the same time asked for the public’s help in identifying the unnamed woman. Items of clothing were listed, a blue floral blouse. It was in a pretty tatty state but they’d laid it out and photographed it in case anyone recognised it. The days were hectic, busy and yet sluggish. Dominic was frustrated with the lack of progress being made on the case.

By Wednesday morning Dominic had started to flag. The fatigue starting to settle into his bones. But he wasn’t going to let it slow him down. The victims deserved more from him, from them.

Kapoor walked in for the morning briefing. ‘Okay gang, where are we on identifying the third, or is she potentially the first victim?’ He was straight into it this morning. There was no welcoming small talk. He was obviously getting pressure from the top.

‘Several calls came in late yesterday from people who think they recognised the photograph of the blouse we put out. We’re following those up and we’re hopeful we’ll be able to identify her, maybe today,’ said Rhys.

Kapoor looked tired. ‘Good. We need to progress this. She has family out there who want to know what happened to her. People who are scared she’s theirs and they don’t know. People are scared anyway. Three dead women, all of a similar age, over forty, he has a type. We have the linked dating app between the first two, once we identify the third woman we need to see if there is any overlap between the three of them. Have we got anywhere with Julie Carver and knowing what app she was using?’

‘We’ve contacted her service provider and have a list of the apps she was using. It’s the same dating app as Madeleine Chapman. We’re waiting on