‘No, sir. Her aunt and her cousin both said that she had gone to live with relatives but they didn’t give any details.’

There was an uneasy atmosphere in the room. Tyler glanced at Walker and Spencer, avoiding eye contact with Jane.

‘Have we had any alarms raised by the family regarding this young girl’s whereabouts?’

‘No, sir. This is why I really feel it is necessary for us to make finding her a priority.’

Jane watched as Walker slowly got to his feet, pointedly looking at his wristwatch again. ‘I recommend, Detective Tennison, that you should immediately contact Missing Persons and—’

‘But I do have grave concerns, sir,’ Jane interrupted. ‘Yasmin hadn’t been seen for a considerable time before the murder.’

Now Tyler stood up. ‘But you have only this Tanya’s word that she was paid off for something that happened at a film premiere. Have we ever had any complaint regarding this incident?’

Jane could hardly contain her frustration. ‘No, sir, because they were paid off by Foxley to keep quiet. You have to understand how very young and naive these girls were.’

‘Yet again, Detective Tennison, your intentions are good, but in reality we will require much more solid evidence. Hopefully we will gain that when Missing Persons are brought on board. Until that time, we have a man pleading guilty.’

Jane watched in astonishment as Walker and Tyler left the room.

Spencer got off his chair and swung it around to place it back under the table.

‘You’re not OK with all that, are you?’ he said quietly.

‘No, I’m not,’ Jane said, shaking her head in frustration. ‘I have a strong feeling that something bad happened to that girl. She was an innocent fifteen-year-old. If you could have seen that hideous room her parents kept her in . . . But I don’t have any evidence.’

Spencer walked to the door. ‘You know, I think Foxley was a scumbag. I’m not saying he got what he deserved, but maybe we have to leave it to the family.’

Jane banged her chair down, shouting, ‘Leave it to the family? Spencer, her father has pleaded guilty to disemboweling the man we suspect of paying Yasmin hush money.’

Spencer shouted back, pointing at her. ‘This is all hearsay. You don’t have any evidence. I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel for this girl, but you have to leave it to her mother, aunt and uncle to report her missing if that’s what she is.’ He turned on his heel, slamming the door behind him.

Jane sat for a few minutes, trying to get her emotions under control. Then she completed a report and filed it. There was a buoyancy in the incident room as it was going to be the first weekend off a lot of the officers had had for a while, and they were hell-bent on enjoying it.