And so she told him about Torin. About the unaccountable absence of Bev McAndrew and her rescue of the boy from the uncertain clutches of social services. ‘I spoke to the duty pharmacist who did the handover with her last night. Bev said nothing about any plans for the evening other than picking up some shopping on the way home. I’ve tracked down a couple of her female friends. Neither of them have heard from her.’ She ran her finger round the rim of her glass. ‘I’ll be honest, Tony, I don’t like it.’

He leaned back and studied the low roof of the cabin. ‘Let’s consider the possibilities. Not an accident or an incident involving the emergency services.’

‘I told you. I checked.’

‘I know you did, I’m just running through the options. Amnesia? Hard to believe she could have gone twenty-four hours without attracting the attention of somebody who would do the responsible thing. And besides, real amnesia is incredibly rare. Usually memory loss is connected to a head injury which would have landed her in hospital. And you’ve ruled that out.’

‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’

He held up a hand, palm towards her. ‘You jump to that conclusion because it’s what you know. In your world, murder is something that happens on a weekly basis. But that’s not how it is for most of us. Even if you consider six degrees of separation, most of us get closer to Kevin Bacon than we do to a murder victim. We need to look at more likely scenarios first.’

‘Like what?’ Paula’s jaw had a stubborn set. She knew what was coming and she’d already dismissed the other options.

‘A boyfriend – or a girlfriend – she’s gone off with spontaneously.’

‘She’s straight. But everybody I spoke to says she hasn’t been seeing anyone in the last couple of years.’

Tony leaned forward. ‘How likely does that seem to you? You described her as bright, funny, attractive. I’m assuming she’s late thirties, early forties. A bit young to be going for the life of a nun, I’d have thought.’

Tell that to Carol Jordan. How many years have you two been avoiding getting your act together? Paula kept her face straight and said, ‘What is it the straight women say? By the time you get to thirty-five, all the best blokes are taken or gay.’

‘And by the time you get to forty, the divorces kick in and they’re looking for a second bite of the cherry. I can imagine plenty of reasons why Bev might not be shouting from the rooftops about a new man. Maybe it’s someone at work. Maybe it’s someone who’s married. Maybe it’s one of Torin’s teachers.’

Someone at work? Dan who protested too much? ‘She’d tell her best mate. Women do.’ Unless it was her best mate…