“But I found a chewing gum wrapper up by the tree.”

“Ah, I see what you mean. So where are you at the minute?”

“I’m on my way back down to the cottage. Josh, if they’re up on the hill, they’ll never find their way back. They’ll be lost, Josh.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“I’ve no idea.” Dan stopped to catch his breath. “Yes, actually, I do. Go to the police station, Josh. Tell them that your two sisters left the cottage this afternoon at about three o’clock with two dogs and that they haven’t returned. Give them descriptions and anything they want to know, and tell them that we’ll need to get search parties out looking for them as soon as possible.”

“That’s a bit serious, Dad. Do you really think it’s that bad?”

“Too right, I do. I think they’re in a heap of trouble.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll take the car along to Auchnacerie to find out if they’ve been there. If not, I’ll call you back from Trenchards’ phone.”

“All right.” Josh paused on the line. “Dad?”

“What is it?”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. I can usually sense if something’s gone wrong.”

Dan silently blessed his son’s ability to come out with the right words at the right time. It had been exactly that way when they had sat together watching the towers of the World Trade Center crumble to the ground. “I hope you’re right, Josh. I pray to God that you’re right.”

He burst into the kitchen at Auchnacerie without so much as a knock on the door, and found every member of the Trenchard family present, each occupied with a different project. Max lay on the sofa, fingers flicking the controls of a Play Station as he stared intently at the darting figures and flashing laser beams that filled the television screen; Sooty was at one end of the kitchen table, absorbed in yet another pictorial masterpiece; while Patrick and Katie, seated at the other end, entered data onto the laptop computer from the untidy pile of bills and receipts that Patrick had in front of him. They were immediately united by their looks of surprise and concern when Dan entered.

“Everything all right, Dan?” Patrick asked, peering over a pair of half-moon reading glasses.

“You haven’t by any chance seen Millie and Nina, have you?”

Patrick looked across at his wife. She shrugged her shoulders. “No. Why? Are they not at the cottage?”

Dan let out a deep sigh of despair. “They went off for a walk at about three o’clock with the dogs and they haven’t returned.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sakes!” Katie exclaimed, getting up from her seat and pushing her way past Sooty. “Have you any idea where they’ve gone?”