Hawkins gave him a playful shove. ‘I’m trying to be serious.’

‘You’re right.’ He thought for a moment. ‘When I was a kid, I wanted to be a fireman, but these days I’d probably go for fraud investigation. You for real?’

‘Actually … I think I might be.’

They sat in reflective silence until the gate reached the end of its travel, and Hawkins drove out on to the airfield-like tarmac.

‘Anyhow,’ Mike said, apparently happy to bank progress on their discussion for the moment, ‘what brings us to good old Perivale Pound?’

‘The usual mixture of instinct and mild desperation.’ Hawkins went on to explain the previous night’s raid, Mardell’s escape and their ongoing search for him. ‘All the participants’ cars were left at the factory. Recoveries brought them here this morning.’ She took her phone from the door pocket, opened the email function and handed it to him. ‘This is the list of everything found inside Mardell’s Renault.’

While Mike read, she followed the guard’s directions towards the rear corner, where the cars owned by the members of Millennial Dawn had been deposited earlier in the day. In itself, the collection of vehicles was unremarkable, and could have represented just about any car park in the country. A brand-new Mercedes sat between a battered Hyundai and a small Toyota city car, suggesting that the spiritual group accepted members from any stratum of society.

She spotted Mardell’s Renault near the end of the row and drew up alongside, turning to Mike. ‘Ready?’

‘Always.’ He held up her phone. ‘But this is a pretty standard list. No letters or anything to tell us where this guy is. What are you hoping to find?’

Hawkins made a non-committal noise. ‘What is it the army says about the map not being the terrain? I’m hoping there’s a clue hiding among the actual contents.’

Mike nodded, but she could see he wasn’t convinced, the annoying thing being that he was probably right. According to the inventory, the Renault was a mess, but it contained nothing you wouldn’t have expected to find in any private car.

Allegedly, the glove box held a phone charger, spare bulbs, sunglasses and tissues. The door bins housed fast food condiments, an umbrella and a few packs of mints, while there was a window scraper and two almost empty spray bottles of de-icer under the seats. A spare wheel, a tow rope, a jerry can and a box of CDs occupied the boot. But it was the old receipts and assorted rubbish gathered from around the car and bagged up behind the passenger seat that had drawn Hawkins’ interest.