‘DI Robinson asked Callie Baldwin about the layout. Apparently at this time of night the couple would normally be having a pre-dinner drink in the drawing room, which is the window at the front of the property on the right.’ Tom pointed to the room in question. ‘There hasn’t been a light showing there, although it’s possible they have thick curtains. It’s equally possible that Baldwin escaping from the house has put the wind up them. They could have absconded, abandoned everything. Callie was inevitably going to discover that she hadn’t killed her boyfriend and then it would have been only a matter of time before she reported them.’

The sergeant nodded. ‘Anything else we should know?’

‘The Atwells’ bedroom is on the first floor at the back of the house. The entrance to the cellar is in something that looks like a cupboard, halfway down the long corridor that runs from the side door towards the entrance hall.’

Tom glanced over his shoulder to where the team were silently and efficiently preparing the equipment they would need to enter the premises.

‘We need multiple points of entry,’ the sergeant said. ‘We’ll enter via the main door as well as the side and back doors. We need to get up the drive as quickly and quietly as possible, so we’ll keep off the gravel until the last moment, and entry through all access points will be simultaneous.’

‘Okay. The women are the priority, of course.’

‘Absolutely. Some of my men are tasked with locating the cellar and getting the women out. The rest will secure the other rooms and locate any other occupants.’

Tom turned back towards where a group of around ten black-clad men in protective gear waited in silence, several of them carrying forcible-entry tools. They stood straight, legs planted firmly apart, and Tom imagined the adrenaline pumping through their systems, as it was pumping through his.

The sergeant walked back to his men and spoke quietly. Tom saw several nods before the sergeant turned back towards the house. He held out a radio to Tom. ‘We’ll let you know when we’re in.’ He signalled to his men, and as a group they disappeared between the gate posts into the dark night. Tom could hear the faint swish of fabric on fabric as their arms and legs pumped them across the grass by the side of the drive, but nothing more.

This was the worst part. Events were out of Tom’s hands for now, and all he could do was stand quietly by and wait. The ambulance was waiting too, the paramedics both out of their vehicle and pacing up and down. They, like Tom, wanted things to move. He glanced towards the end of the track and thought about the car parked down the lane. He knew Nathan would be watching, wanting to be there with the team to see if his sister was alive.