Bloom shook her head disparagingly. She took a small sip and looked out of the window at the Cambridgeshire countryside. ‘So what else is there to know about Lana?’ she asked.

Jameson poured three little milk pots into his tea. ‘Like I said, I hardly know the woman. I’ve spent plenty of time with Jane – Sunday lunches and whatnot, because she’s always at Claire’s – but I’ve only met Lana a few times. But from what Claire says …’ He shook his head. ‘From what I can tell, she’s trouble. Claire watched Lana seduce Sue’s husband. It’s the equivalent of Lana going after Dan. I mean, she probably wouldn’t, because Claire can be bloody scary, but Sue is this sweet, gentle woman.’

‘And that’s why Sue and her husband are divorcing?’

‘Absolutely. And Mark wasn’t Lana’s first married man. Claire thinks Lana enjoys the thrill of proving she can have any man she wants. She never sticks with them. She pursued Mark for months, slept with him and then that was that.’

‘She’s never made a play for you?’

‘Why would she? I’m not married. Nothing to prove.’

Bloom mulled it over. Lana was competitive – that was clear – otherwise there’d be no thrill in seducing another woman’s husband. But plenty of people liked the chase. And very few would drop everything to play a bizarre game. ‘What’s Lana’s motivation? Why would she play this game? If that’s the reason our people have disappeared, we need to understand why.’

‘Maybe she didn’t have a choice.’ Jameson opened his packet of biscuits and offered one to Bloom.

She shook her head. ‘Right. Did they choose to do it – it had some personal appeal – or …’

‘Were they forced to do it? Blackmailed.’

‘Or were they abducted? The birthday message could be nothing more than a calling card. There may be no game at all.’

‘Just some sicko showing off?’

Bloom made a few notes in her book. ‘If they did voluntarily accept the dare and play a game, then what are we dealing with? All of the participants would be highly competitive, very impulsive. Jane said her mother didn’t play computer games, but she could be wrong. This might be something targeted at enthusiasts.’

‘You mean they may have asked for access to the game?’

‘Or visited a specific website. Have you heard of this Blue Whale game? The one in Russia?’

Jameson’s expression darkened. ‘You don’t think it’s similar, do you? Targeting unhappy kids and coercing them into committing suicide?’