Helen clenched her jaw as she watched Lennon scribble more lines in his fancy notebook. Why had she ever entrusted the care of her precious daughter to Alice? And what was all this about the drawing? Someone looking through the window . . . A wave of nausea hit her and it took all her strength to stop herself being sick.

She swallowed and looked up at the detective. When she spoke her words came out strangled. ‘Please find her. You have to find her.’

His expression as he returned her gaze was understanding and his words heartfelt: ‘Rest assured, Helen, I will move heaven and earth to get your little girl back safely.’

But it didn’t make Helen feel any better.

She keeps staring at me, shrinking away like she’s going to catch something. It’s irritating me, as are the flies buzzing around the van, three big fat buggers that keep bouncing off the windows and evading me. This morning I woke up to find one of them sucking on my arm, which almost made me vomit. I guess I smell like shit, being stuck in this van for the past 24 hours, sticky from the heat and the excitement and fear. I keep fantasizing about showers, but I’m going to have to wait. Patience is something I’m good at, after all.

‘Come on,’ I say, offering her a bottle of Fruit Shoot. ‘Have a drink.’

She screws up her pretty face and shakes her head.

‘How about something to eat? Look, I bought you some chocolate.’

It’s so hot in the van that when I unwrap the Freddo Frog, half of it squidges onto my fingers, the irritation this causes making my eardrums pulse.

‘Drink,’ I said, my voice firmer, pushing the purple bottle towards her. ‘Drink, or I’ll get cross.’

She looks at me with her big eyes, those beautiful lashes taking my breath away, just like they did the first time I ever saw her, and reluctantly takes the bottle, sucks from it.

‘That’s a good girl.’

I bought the sugary drinks and the chocolate and all the other food – the crisps and Haribo and fairy cakes – at the supermarket, scanning it all through the self-service machine, one of those wonderful inventions that makes it so easy to live without attracting attention. Okay, I had a brief moment of anxiety when there was an unexpected item in the bagging area, but the member of staff zoomed over and swiped her staff card without even looking at me.