‘Please, I just need a few moments of your time, Midilah. My car is parked very near. I really don’t want to ask you to accompany me to the police station, but we could drive somewhere more private.’

Jane felt slightly guilty saying that, as she would not have taken her to the station, and she actually had no authority to even be talking to her, but it seemed to have worked. After looking around quickly, Midilah nodded.

After they’d gotten into the car, Jane drove to a small side street and pulled into a parking space. Midilah kept her head bowed, holding her satchel tightly on her knees.

‘Thank you for talking to me, Midilah. I really appreciate it,’ Jane said, trying to make her feel at ease. ‘Now, do you know where I can contact Yasmin?’

Midilah sighed. ‘I have been told she has been taken to live with relatives in Pakistan. I do not know the address. My father arranged everything.’ She gave Jane a furtive glance. ‘Have you spoken to my father?’

‘No. I am hoping it won’t be necessary,’ Jane replied.

Midilah looked away. ‘My father is a very good man, but he would not approve of me speaking to you. My father is head of the family and he brought Yasmin and her mother to England because my uncle had got into trouble when he was working as security. He felt that reestablishing the family would be good for him when he came out of prison.’

Jane nodded encouragingly. ‘OK, go on.’

‘Yasmin found it very difficult as she did not speak English, and my aunt still has poor English. She eventually went to a comprehensive school but she began to disrespect my father, who had arranged for their accommodation. No matter how supportive he was, Yasmin blatantly lied to his face. I tried to persuade her to cooperate but I was forced to tell tales about her behavior.’

Jane found it strange that after being so uncommunicative, Midilah had, without any real encouragement, started revealing her family’s intimate business. Her intuition was that it sounded rehearsed.

‘When you say you were forced to tell tales about her behavior, what are you referring to?’ she asked.

For the first time, Midilah showed a spark of defiance. ‘I’ve just explained everything. We were not close friends. I am older and I plan to go to university. If I behaved in the same way as Yasmin, there would be severe consequences.’

Jane recalled the empty, austere flat with the two single beds.

‘Did you live with Yasmin and her parents at the flat in Wandsworth?’ Jane asked.

‘Sometimes I stayed with my aunt and uncle, but my father has an apartment above his business.’

‘And that’s where you live now, is it? Above a Halal butcher shop?’

‘Yes, I live with my father,’ she said, her hands still holding tightly onto her satchel.