“It was a man who made the call, then?”

“Yes.”

“What time?”

“About half past nine. Just before Robin rang you.”

“How much did he ask for?”

“Ten thousand.”

“Accent?”

“None, really.”

“He didn’t sound local?”

“He could’ve been, but he didn’t have a strong accent. Sort of bland.”

“And his voice?”

“What do you mean?”

“High or low? Husky, reedy, whatever?”

“Just ordinary. I’m sorry, I’m not good at this sort of thing, especially recognizing voices on the telephone.”

Annie favored him with a smile. “Not many people are. Think about it, though. It could be important. If there’s anything at all you remember about the voice.”

“Yes. I’ll think about it.”

“Did he let you speak to Luke?”

“No.”

“Did you ask?”

“Yes, but he said Luke was being kept somewhere else.”

“And he called you on your mobile?”

“Yes.”

“Who knows the number?”

“Family. Close friends. Business colleagues. I suppose it would be easy enough to find out. Luke, of course. He has it programmed into the electronic phone book of his own mobile. At first, I thought it was him because his name was displayed when the call came.”

“So the kidnapper used Luke’s mobile to call you?”

“I suppose so. Why does it matter?”

“At least it tells us he’s in an area where there’s a signal. Or he was when he made the call. Also, if he’s used it at other times, we’ll be able to get the information from the phone company. It might help us pinpoint him. Of course, it would be better if he left it switched on, but he’s not going to make things that easy for us.”

“Tell me,” said Robin. “In your experience, in how many cases do they…how many times do the victims…”

“I don’t have any statistics offhand,” Annie admitted. “But if it makes you feel any better, kidnappers are essentially businesspeople. They’re in it for the money, not to hurt anyone. There’s every chance that this will be resolved and that you’ll see Luke back here safe and sound.” Annie could feel her nose growing as she talked. Too much time had passed, she suspected, for a happy ending, though she hoped she was wrong. “In the meantime, while appearing to go along with his demands and not alarming him in any way, we want to make sure that in addition to getting Luke home safely, we take every opportunity to discover the kidnapper’s identity and bring him to justice.”

“How can we help?” asked Robin.

“You don’t have to do anything,” said Annie. “You’ve already played your part. Just leave the rest to us.”

“Maybe you’ve scared him off,” Martin said. “Luke should be back by now. It’s been hours.”

“Sometimes they wait a long time just to make sure nobody’s watching. He’s probably waiting till dark.”

“But you can’t be certain, can you?” Robin said.

“Nothing’s certain in this world, Mrs. Armitage.”

“Robin. I told you. Oh, how rude of me!” She got to her feet. “All this time and I haven’t offered you anything to drink.” She was wearing denim shorts, Annie noticed, cut high on her long, smooth legs. There weren’t many women who could get away with the bare midriff look at her age, either, Annie thought. She wouldn’t even think of it herself, though she was only thirty-four, but what she could see of Robin’s stomach looked flat and taut, with a ring of some sort glinting in her navel.