‘I realise that it feels useless staying put, Mrs, er . . .’

‘Simmonds,’ replied Theresa.

‘But it really is the best thing.’ Tapping her pencil on her notepad, the policewoman shook her head. ‘People always want to take action. But, for one thing, your daughter is in no fit state to drive.’

‘She’s not drunk?’

‘No,’ replied the policewoman. ‘But she is extremely agitated.’

‘Of course she is. Who wouldn’t be?’ Theresa decided to take control of the situation. She had seen enough TV shows to know what she should do. ‘But my daughter is a very methodical person. She is probably going to visit all of Chloe’s haunts. Meanwhile we shouldn’t waste any time. Shall we look around her bedroom?’

‘I think that would be very useful, Mrs Simmonds.’ The policewoman laid down her pad and put her hat back on. She followed Theresa up the stairs.

While rifling through her granddaughter’s things, Theresa felt guilty, but knew it had to be done.

‘Does the child have a mobile phone?’ the policewoman asked.

‘Everyone has been ringing her.’ Theresa moved towards the chest of drawers. ‘But it appears she has turned it off.’

She pulled open a drawer.

‘And here we have the solution.’ A pink mobile phone was lying there, nestled between Chloe’s T-shirts and underwear. ‘It is most unusual for a young girl to leave without her phone, wouldn’t you say, officer?’

The policewoman looked grim. ‘Unless she was abducted in the night, which seems highly unlikely without some evidence of a break-in, I would suspect that this means she has a second phone. Perhaps a pay-as-you-go. But I’m afraid that it does make things look rather more serious.’

Theresa sat on the bed. She knew what the officer was about to say.

‘Men who groom children frequently buy them these phones so that they can have more control over them. It would also indicate that some planning went into her disappearance.’ The policewoman bit her underlip. ‘Do you know if she has a passport?’

‘Yes. I live in France. I remember suggesting it, just in case they ever needed to come over to visit me without their mother. I have seen her passport.’

‘Then we must find out whether she took it with her,’ replied the policewoman. ‘Do you know where the household passports might be kept?’

Theresa shook her head. ‘I don’t live here, I’m afraid. When my daughter gets back . . .’

Theresa illuminated Chloe’s phone. She hoped there might be something of a clue left on it. She scrolled through a long list of missed calls, all from her mother and sisters. The recent texts were only about homework and other school-related activities.

The policewoman held out her hand. ‘If you don’t mind, I’ll take that. It’s more than likely that the child—’

‘Chloe.’

‘That Chloe would have deleted anything she felt scared her mother might see. Frequently, if a departure from the parental home is planned, the child can be very wary about leaving any clues. Luckily the police have ways of retrieving old and deleted files.’