'What type of car?'

'I was asked that. I don't know. It was black and shiny, but I don't know what make.'

'Can you describe this man?'

'I already have.'

'Yes I know, but just for me.'

Sharon finished her biscuit and wiped the corners of her mouth with one finger. 'Tall, maybe six foot. He was wearing a long dark coat, very smart, and he had short dark hair. I only really saw the back of him. Oh yeah, slight hooknose, I remember that.'

'What age, do you think?'

'Hard to tell; thirty-five to forty-five? He wasn't young and he wasn't her usual type.'

'How long had Louise been seeing this man?'

Sharon shrugged. 'I dunno; I think she knew him before she moved in here. She didn't see him that regular, but she was very keen on him.'

'What makes you say that?'

'Well, when she did have a date with him, she spent hours getting dressed, changing her clothes; she even borrowed some of mine. She said she wanted to look smart for him, sophisticated, and she bought some new shoes: very high, spike-heeled ones.'

'Are they missing?'

'I don't know. I haven't looked.'

'We can do that later. I'll also need you to look through her wardrobe and see if any of her clothes are missing.'

'I can do, but I don't know if I'll be able to tell; you see, we shared the flat but, I mean, we weren't close friends.'

'Really?'

'She answered an ad I put in Time Out when my last flatmate left. It's rented and I couldn't afford to live here by myself, so I needed someone fast.'

'When was this?'

'About seven months ago. I dunno where she lived before; she didn't have that much luggage. She didn't have a lot of money either; well, her job paid peanuts.'

'You said she worked for a dentist?'

'Yeah, but they paid her a minimum wage, 'cos she was having some of her teeth fixed. She needed some caps and fillings done, so I guess when that had been finished she would leave. She didn't talk about her work much; just that it was really boring and she had this thing about hearing the dentist's drill.'