Sarah rang a few minutes later. ‘I’ve just had Deborah on the phone. The police are searching her house now, turning it upside down, taking her computer away and her mobile. She’s distraught, she’s had a great row with them and they’ve been really nasty, she says. She didn’t even know Daniel was missing. She rang me to see if I could ask you to get them to call it off. I tried to tell her that you don’t have that kind of authority but I think she thought I was just being unhelpful. I promised I’d speak to you and ring her back. What can I say?’

‘Tell her there’s nothing I can do and that we’re in the same boat, almost. They’ll probably want to interview us as we were the last to see him.’

‘She’ll want to know what he was doing at our house.’

‘Tell her he came round for further discussion of the work he’s supposed to do for us.’

‘God, I wish we’d never – where on earth do you think he can be? Surely he’s not about to go berserk in some crowded place, is he? Didn’t he say they’d taken his knives away, anyway?’

‘I’ve no idea what he’s doing. Maybe he’s run away to think about things. Or maybe he’s trying to leave the country. Not to become a jihadi, necessarily, but maybe to join one of those Islamic aid charities. He mentioned something about that, didn’t he? But wouldn’t say which. Just hope it’s a good one, a real charity and not one that finances terrorism.’

‘You really don’t think he’s a terrorist, then?’

Charles sighed. ‘Well, he could be, of course. Anyone’s capable of anything—’

‘You believe they are? You really believe it?’

‘Depending on context, yes.’ In the pause that followed he sensed that he had unwittingly exposed a fissure between them, a fundamental disagreement about human nature, about what people were, that neither had suspected in the other. Now was not the time to explore it. ‘But my feeling about Daniel is that he’s not terrorist material, as I’ve said all along. He’s enthusiastic for the cause and naïve about it, probably motivated by a strong sense of injustice and maybe, who knows, by some personal grievance.’ Just like some of those who do become terrorists, he did not add.

‘But where can he have gone? Akela must be worried sick. Quite apart from the hurt of being left like that, without a word.’

Jenny hovered in the doorway. ‘I’ll let you know if I hear more,’ said Charles. ‘Meanwhile, tell Deborah we’re doing everything we can. Which is little enough but we’ll keep her informed.’

‘Sonia,’ said Jenny as he put down the phone. ‘Wants to talk urgently.’

‘Show her in.’