Tom walked to the entrance to the property. The grounds extended into the distance and must have covered at least a couple of acres. His brother could be anywhere.

‘Bollocks,’ he muttered.

It was too dark to see anything, and there wasn’t a sign of life anywhere. He stepped back outside the gates, hoping that if he called Nathan he would get an answer this time, but before he had the chance, his phone vibrated in his hand. It was Becky.

‘Any news?’ he asked without preamble.

‘You could say that! I don’t know where you got your information from, Tom, but you’re bang on the money. Callie’s as nervous as hell and looks like she’s going to fall over with exhaustion, but I’ll deal with that later. I didn’t have to ask her about Thea and Garrick Atwell. I asked her where she had been for the last few days, and she just came out with it. She’s been staying with them.’

‘Staying with them? What, as a friend? As a paying guest? What, exactly?’

‘It’s complicated, but she said they were helping her out after the trouble she’d been having with Ian – which is something of an understatement. I obviously need to delve into that a lot more, but you thought the Atwells were a priority, and Callie isn’t going anywhere so I let her talk. Tom, it sounds bad. She’s been living in their cellar. And not just her. She says there are two other women there too. And one of them is called Hannah.’

‘Oh God, I had a feeling this was where it was leading. Okay, we need to get a team here as soon as we can. Did she say if the other girls were safe?’

‘She thinks so, but she said there might be a third woman somewhere in the house too. This woman’s husband came looking for her, and Thea Atwell told him she was refusing to see him. Callie says she’s never seen the other woman, but she thinks her name is Judith.’

Tom stood still and thought for a moment.

‘Isn’t that the name of the woman we found on the golf course?’

‘No, you were right about the surname, but her first name was Julie. Callie has no idea where this Judith might be, or even if she’s definitely there. She says the house is like a rabbit warren, and there are areas she was never allowed to enter, even when she was cleaning.’

Tom had a stream of questions that he wanted to ask. But he didn’t have time. He needed to get into that house, and he couldn’t do it alone.