‘Bowie.’ He felt daft saying the boy’s name. He’d probably change it to Joe or something when he was older. ‘Your mum tells me that you saw something when you were in the car park at Sainsbury’s just before you went on holiday.’

Bowie nodded almost imperceptibly.

‘I just need you to tell me what you saw.’

The boy spoke, his voice surprisingly clear. ‘It was him, that boy who’s in the newspapers. Liam. I saw his picture on the front of the paper when we got back. They said the Child Catcher got him.’ He looked over at his mum, then back at Patrick. ‘But it wasn’t the Child Catcher. It was a lady.’

Patrick could hear his own heartbeat. ‘A woman? Tell me what you saw.’

‘I was just, like, sitting looking out of the tank window, watching what was going on. This guy with dreadlocks had just dropped a bottle of drink and it had smashed and there was red liquid everywhere, and he was jumping about, so I was watching him. Then I saw this car – an Audi—’

‘You remember the type of car?’

‘He loves cars,’ Liza interrupted. ‘He knows all the makes and models. Knows a lot more about them than I do.’

‘Yes, it was a white Audi, one of the saloon models. I could see a little kid sitting in the back seat, his face pressed against the glass, like he was looking for his mum and dad.’

‘Then what happened?’

‘I saw this woman walk past the car, and then she did . . . what’s it called when you see something without realizing and then you stop and turn around?’

‘A double take?’

‘That’s it. She did that. And she walked back to the car window. She had her back to me. But then she opened the car door and lifted the little boy, Liam, out of his booster seat and carried him away.’

‘How did he look?’ Patrick didn’t want to ask leading questions.

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘I mean, could you see his face? Did he look happy, sad?’

Bowie thought about it. ‘He just looked kind of relaxed. He wasn’t struggling or anything. Or crying. I thought she must be his mum or auntie or something because otherwise I would have told my dad.’ He bit his lip. ‘I’m really sorry.’

‘Bowie, you have nothing to be sorry about. It’s great that you saw something and that you’re telling us. Did you notice if the woman had a car key? Did you see her unlock the door?’

He pursed his lips. ‘No. But she had her back to me. She might have had the key in front of her. I guess it would have been a remote one.’

Patrick nodded. ‘Did you see where they went?’