‘What is it?’ Kat goes straight to him and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder, while I look around. Unlike the other offices, Karim’s mum’s has clearly been tidied up after the explosion. The bin contains the pieces of a broken plant pot, and the books that must have fallen from the shelf have been piled up by the desk. Something on the floor by Karim’s feet catches my eye: some dark, splattered drops that are soaking into the rug.

‘That’s not coffee,’ Karim says, looking at it through the gaps between his fingers. I crouch down for a better look. He’s right – it isn’t coffee.

‘Is it…?’ Kat asks.

‘I think so,’ I say. ‘I think it’s blood. I wish Mak was here – he’d know for sure.’ I grab a tissue from 69 a box on the desk and dab one of the spots with it, watching the red liquid seep into the white paper. ‘It’s still wet,’ I say.

‘So she’s probably still here somewhere, and she’s hurt.’ Karim looks up. ‘We have to find her.’

‘Just wait one moment, man,’ I say. ‘I know you’re worried, but we need to think before we run into trouble. This might not be as bad as it looks.’

‘Blood spatter is never ever a good thing,’ Karim says. ‘Like never ever.’

‘Fair point,’ I say. ‘But we can only help your mum if we stay calm.’

‘Lance is right,’ Kat says. ‘That’s only a tiny amount of blood – if your mum was seriously hurt, you’d think there would be a lot more.’

‘Like it would be up the walls,’ I nod. ‘This is more like a minor cut amount. Also, we should look for clues – does anything seem different to you?’

‘It all looks like it usually does,’ Karim says. ‘Apart from that hoody – that’s not my mum’s.’

I pick up the hoody that’s hanging over the back of the desk chair. It’s a kind of faded dark-blue colour, with a small logo on the front – 70 which looks like the turret of a castle. ‘I know I’ve seen this logo before,’ I say. ‘But I can’t remember where.’ It’s there in my brain somewhere – I know it is, but I can’t quite get at it. ‘What a bad time not to be able to Google.’ There’s another thing, too. ‘Smell this,’ I say, handing the hoody to Kat. She lifts it to her nose and cautiously sniffs.

‘What is that?’ she says. ‘It’s not like any body spray I’ve ever smelt.’

‘Here, let me.’ Karim grabs it. ‘I’m an expert on grooming products.’ He inhales deeply and frowns. ‘Unless there’s a new flavour of Lynx I don’t know about, I have no idea what it could be.’

‘It’s really sweet,’ Kat says. ‘But not in a nice way.’