“I didn’t. As a matter of fact, I had a bit too much to drink. Too much to risk driving, at any rate. So I slept on Vernon’s sofa. I didn’t come back here until about lunchtime on Tuesday.”

Banks glanced at Annie, who put her notebook aside and pulled the artist’s impression out of her briefcase. “Have you ever seen this girl, Ms. Anderson?” she asked. “Think carefully.”

Lauren studied the drawing and shook her head. “No. I’ve seen the look, but the face isn’t familiar.”

“Not someone from school?”

“If she is, I don’t recognize her.”

“We think she might have been Luke’s girlfriend,” Banks said. “And we’re trying to find her.”

Lauren shot Banks a glance. “Girlfriend? But Luke didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“How do you know? You said he didn’t tell you everything.”

She fingered the collar of her V-neck. “But…but I’d have known.”

“I can’t see how,” said Banks. “What about Rose Barlow?”

“What about her?”

“I’ve heard she and Luke were pretty friendly.”

“Who told you that?”

“Were they?”

“I believe they went out once or twice earlier this year. Rose Barlow isn’t anywhere near Luke’s league. She’s strictly a plodder.”

“So it didn’t last.”

“Not to my knowledge. Though, as you pointed out, I wouldn’t necessarily be the one to know.”

Banks and Annie stood up to leave. Lauren walked to the door with them.

“Thanks for your time,” Banks said. “And if you do remember anything else, you’ll let us know, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course. Anything I can do,” Lauren said. “I do hope you catch whoever did this. Luke had such a promising future ahead of him.”

“Don’t worry,” said Banks, with more confidence than he felt. “We will.”

Ever since she had rung Banks, Michelle had thought of confronting Shaw with what she had discovered. It would have been easy enough for any authorized person to remove the notebooks and actions from their file boxes. Michelle could have done it herself, so who would think to question an officer of Shaw’s rank? Certainly not Mrs. Metcalfe.

But still she resisted the direct approach. The thing was, she had to be certain. Once something like that was out in the open, there was no taking it back. She had been down in the archives again first thing that morning on another fruitless search, which had at least convinced her that the objects she was looking for were missing. And they should have been there.

What she needed to do now was think. Think about what it all meant. She couldn’t do that in the station with Shaw wandering around the place, so she decided to drive over to the Hazels estate and walk Graham’s route again.

She parked in front of the row of shops opposite the estate and stood for a moment enjoying the feel of the sun on her hair. She looked at the newsagent’s shop, now run by Mrs. Walker. That was where it had all begun. On a whim, Michelle entered the shop and found the sturdy, gray-haired old lady arranging newspapers on the counter.