‘No. He’s taken the campervan but he hasn’t taken any of his stuff. They can’t drive round forever. David and I will head home. Hopefully he’ll turn up there or at Jack’s soon.’

‘I’m going to the beach,’ I said. ‘I’ll let you know if I find him.’

‘Thank you. And I’ll let you know if he comes home in the meantime.’

Mum said I could take her car, which reminded me that I hadn’t done anything about finding my own. Must rectify that.

The light was fading as I approached North Bay. Another fifteen minutes or so and it would be in full darkness. The upside was that there were loads of parking spaces. I pulled into one, got out, and glanced along the stretch of spaces. The only campervans I could see were modern ones. My stomach sank, but I crossed the road anyway and headed towards North Bay Corner. Just because Sam hadn’t parked in the same place as me, it didn’t mean he wasn’t at the beach. There were plenty of other places he could have parked.

I looked towards the sea. High tide. He wasn’t going to actually be on the beach, then.

Pulling my bobble hat down over my ears, I hurried past Blue Savannah, the ice-cream kiosk and The Surf Shack. There were a few people out for a walk, some with dogs, but the promenade was predominantly deserted. I smiled to myself as I spotted one family brazening it outside a bright yellow beach hut, huddled on deckchairs, wrapped in blankets. Talk about making sure you got your money’s worth.

I reached the end of the beach huts. On the beach below, the rock pools started shortly after the huts ended, but they’d have been engulfed some time ago by the rising tide so he couldn’t be down there.

A cyclist whizzed past me in the opposite direction and then I was alone. The path widened and curved round a grassy area with some benches on it but they were deserted. Crap. I’d been so sure that he’d head for the beach and, unable to get down to the rock pools, would have been on one of the benches.

It was properly dark now although there was thankfully good lighting. I’d go as far as the corner by Sea Rescue Sanctuary and, if there was still no sign of him, I’d have to go home and wait it out.