Half an hour before meeting Strike to interview the Bayliss sisters at the Belgique in Wanstead, Robin takes a detour to Wanstead Flats, where Dennis Creed disposed of his second-to-last victim, Susan Meyer.

Wanstead Flats is the southernmost portion of Epping Forest. Historically, the flats were used for cattle and other grazing land.

Robin parks the Land Rover beside a stretch of shops on Aldersbrook Road and crosses the street and walks up a short footpath.

She arrives at man-made Alexandra Lake, a wide stretch of water. “The milky sky looked as opaque as the shallow lake, which resembled jade silk in which the gliding wildfowl made rippling creases.” Troubled Blood, Chapter 53

Hands in her pockets, Robin tries to imagine the scene after the disposal of Susan Meyer’s body, when a park worker spotted the black object in the water, hooked it with a long pole, felt the weight of it and made an instant connection with the bodies that kept turning up in Epping Forest.

After checking her watch, Robin returns to her Land Rover on Aldersbrook Road and drives to meet Strike at the Belgique on Cambridge Park, which is no more than five minutes away.

In real life in 2010, two men were arrested for the disposal of chemical pesticides near Alexandra Lake, killing more than 80 wild birds.

In 2018, a heatwave caused a huge grass fire, which became the largest incident of its kind ever dealt with by the London Fire Brigade.

You can find Aldersbrook Road and Wanstead Flats with Alexandra Lake on the map below.