Tom had banished Nathan to his hire car, parked at the end of the lane that led to the track and far enough away from the gates not to be seen. He wasn’t as far away as Tom would have liked, but Nathan had refused to leave. Only Tom’s insistence that he could compromise Hannah’s rescue had any impact and had finally persuaded him to keep out of the way.

Tom paced up and down the track. There was no sign of Jack. He didn’t know whether his brother was still hiding somewhere or if he had heard Tom’s warning and disappeared. He could only hope so, because the grounds of the house would inevitably be searched, and if he was there, he would be found. Jack was good, but the police should – at least in theory – be better.

The lights of several vehicles were approaching. There were no sirens, no flashes of blue to brighten the black sky, but Tom knew the support team had arrived. Following the two lead vans was an ambulance, which he sincerely hoped they weren’t going to need. The lights were masked from the house by a thick hedge, and as soon as the vehicles grew close they were switched off and the track was plunged back into darkness, quiet again. Only the soft clicks of van doors being opened and the dull thuds of feet hitting the ground penetrated the silence.

The sergeant heading up the team jumped out of the front of the van and approached Tom. He had been briefed en route but needed to get the lie of the land.

Keeping his voice low, Tom spoke quickly as the two of them edged towards the entrance to the drive, keeping close to the bushes.

‘The crime-scene manager is on his way, but he’s a bit behind you. We’re expecting there to be two elderly people inside, and I have no reason to suspect they’re armed. As you know, we think there are two women in the cellar, probably locked in, and there may be another woman somewhere else in the house, but we don’t know where.’

The sergeant nodded. He was listening closely to what Tom was saying, but his eyes were all over the place, taking in access points to the property and looking for any potential hazards.

‘We tried to get some details of the layout,’ the sergeant said, ‘but it seems the Atwell family have owned this property for years, so there are no handy estate agents’ plans and we haven’t been able to get our hands on anything else that might help.’