‘Have you never had a secret love?’

Paula laughed, embarrassed. ‘Of course I have. I’m a lesbian. Half my life I’ve felt like Doris Day. But I always told my best mate.’ Then she caught herself, hand to her mouth. ‘Except when it was her girlfriend. Oops, I’d forgotten that.’

‘See?’

‘Yeah, but I didn’t have a kid. You’re forgetting about Torin.’

‘I’m not. I wanted to remind you that assumptions always have exceptions. You once had a good reason for a secret. So might Bev. But even allowing for a secret, you’re right. It doesn’t on its own account for her disappearing without a word. She wouldn’t abandon Torin without a word. Some mothers would, there’s no getting away from that. But what you know of Bev personally, from her colleagues and from Torin himself, doesn’t make that a credible proposition?’

‘She’d never leave him high and dry,’ Paula confirmed. ‘I’d say that, in some respects, he’s quite a young fourteen.’

‘But if she is seeing someone, that someone might have their own agenda here. And he might have prevented her from contacting anyone.’

Paula took a deep breath. ‘What you’re really saying is that whether it’s a boyfriend gone rogue or a stranger stalker, Bev isn’t on the missing list from choice.’

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb. It was a gesture she’d seen many times before. ‘I think it’s inescapable, Paula. I think she’s been taken. What’s the official status of the inquiry?’

‘I processed Torin’s statement this morning. If they do things at Skenfrith Street like we used to do them, it’ll be actioned in the morning. I’ll brief Fielding on what I’ve done so far – she’ll kick my arse for going off on my own, but at least the formal stuff will get started. Like tracking her mobile.’

‘Everybody knows about mobiles these days. If it’s switched on, it’ll be nowhere near where Bev is.’

‘Have you got any bright ideas?’

He shook his head. ‘You’re always looking for the point of intersection. Where did Bev cross paths with the person who took her? Was it a stranger who plucked her off the street? Or was it a sexual scenario that went somewhere she didn’t want to go? Let’s face it, Paula, after Fifty Shades of Grey, women are a lot less wary of being tied up by men they don’t necessarily know that well. If you had Stacey, you could get her to go through Bev’s home computer. That would be a good place to start. Can you get Stacey?’