Anne Fitzpatrick, a market stall holder, lived with her Yorkshire terrier on Church Lane in Moston, Manchester. On the evening of May 30, 1983, at 11:30 pm, the 29-year-old dressed in her pyjamas, secured the front door of her flat, and got into bed. She switched off her bedside light and drifted off to sleep.

Anne was abruptly woken in the early hours of the morning by her dog barking loudly. In the darkness, she saw the outline of someone standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

You drop the kids off at school at nine in the morning. The next six hours of their day are spent in the care of trustworthy professionals. The majority of the time they are safe, in the hands of their tutors. It’s a rare occasion, when the friendly teacher isn't the honourable person they appear to be.

After receiving a 999 call in the early hours of Thursday, July 7, 2016, two police officers from the Avon and Somerset constabulary arrived at a property on Wells Road in Bristol. The caller confessed that he had killed someone.

In the American embassy, the telephone rang. Special agent Jaclyn Zappacosta picked it up. The call marked the end of a decade of crimes so bizarre, that if they were translated into a book of fiction, it would be deemed too outlandish to publish.