The murder trial of the man accused of killing schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman resumes today after pausing to let jurors absorb three weeks of police evidence against the defendant, Ian Huntley.
The prosecution in one of the country's most closely watched murder trials has painted Huntley, 29, as a man who felt harassed and fearful after the girls disappeared from their homes in the town of Soham in August 2002.
To make their case that he murdered the best friends, lawyers have highlighted scratches on Huntley's face and said that his house and car were both freshly cleaned the day after the girls vanished.
Their disappearance sparked a massive police and public search, dominated newspapers and drew sympathy from around the world.
Huntley, a former caretaker at the girls' school, denies murdering the girls, forever remembered wearing matching red Manchester United football tops in a snapshot taken of them just hours before they vanished.
He has admitted to conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in the case. His ex-girlfriend, 26-year-old Maxine Carr, is charged with conspiring to cover up the crime.
The prosecution asserts the 10-year-olds died in Huntley's home, probably from asphyxiation, and that he dumped their bodies in a ditch and burned them.
The judge at London's Old Bailey court said the trial had reached a natural break on Friday after sitting for three weeks and that the case would continue today with evidence from fresh witnesses.
The case is expected to last up to four months.