Almost instantaneously, the new phone pinged with a text alert. It was a photograph of the girls sitting on the veranda of a large wooden shack, each holding a wine glass and what looked like a cigarette. Again, it was taken from a distance and the girls were not looking at the camera.

Beneath was the geomapping time, date, location.

She stared at it. ‘Why did you send this? Did you leave this phone here? Are you following them?’

‘Like I told you, Meg, I just want to make sure your daughter stays safe, and to show you how we are watching her all the time. We’ve left you this pre-paid mobile to keep in contact with you.’

She stood there, unable to think clearly, feeling like a rabbit frozen in headlights. Anger was rising through her fear. ‘Stop it, just stop it. Get away from those girls.’

‘I’m afraid they need me, trust me. I’m phoning to offer you a deal, and I think you should accept it for your daughter’s sake.’

‘Really? What deal?’

For the first time, she could sense a tone of real menace in his voice.

‘Firstly, just in case you’re thinking of warning Laura, or telling her to come back home right away, then all bets are off. You do understand me, don’t you, Meg?’

‘What is this all about?’ Meg demanded.

She had a nasty feeling that she already knew.

‘I just need you to do something for me, Meg. Something very simple. It’s not rocket science in any way. But you do need to understand my rules if we’re going to work together, if you want me to keep your daughter safe. Am I clear?’

She was shaking, her voice trapped in her gullet, momentarily unable to speak.

‘My first rule, Meg, is you tell no one. No one at all. You don’t breathe a word to any of your friends. We will know, trust me. You tell any friend or go to the authorities and you will find them dead. The phone is to be kept on you at all times, it’s how we’ll contact you. If you try to get a message to the judge, or tell your fellow jurors, or alert anyone who could get the trial stopped, then I’m afraid it’s game over for little Laura. At least when your husband and son died, you were able to go to their funerals. But you wouldn’t have that luxury with Laura – you might not even get her body back. You would never see her alive again. Are you absolutely clear?’

Raging with anger, but paralysed by shock at the same time, she was unable to speak. She let out the tiniest, high-pitched sound.