“Setting up that profile was a smart move, really smart. If we tell the police about this they’ll get straight on the forum to find GoodSam, and you know what’ll happen? First they’ll shut down StillSearching and won’t let you anywhere near it, then there’ll be ten middle-aged policemen all suddenly trying to chat with GoodSam. He’ll spook immediately and I guarantee, I guarantee”—he repeats for emphasis, holding my gaze—“he’ll disappear.”

“But what about—”

“Cara, I’ve seen it before, trust me. Remember that boy, Adam Rufton, who went missing from Southampton? The family is suing the police for negligence and I hate to say it, but they have a point. Adam might still be alive if they hadn’t been so heavy-handed. They knew Todd Mather, the bloke who took him, was unwell. All Todd’s doctors, everyone who knew Todd, all the mental-health experts, told the police the way to deal with him was to be gentle, to talk to him, reassure him. They told the police that it was when Todd felt threatened, vulnerable, that he was likely to lash out and become violent. But what did the police do when they found that old farm where Todd was holding Adam? They organized a raid, went in with their battering rams and guns. They scared Todd shitless. That’s why he killed Adam and then himself, and that’s exactly why I think we should be the ones to contact GoodSam, find out who he is and what, if anything, was going on between him and Grace before we tell the police.”

He doesn’t take his eyes off me but starts nodding his head slowly, and even though I’ve never had any reason to doubt the police I find myself nodding along with him.

“What should I say to Upton?”

Jon looks back out to sea, as though the water might have an answer.

“Why don’t you just say you were calling for an update, that you wanted to know if they had any new information, that’s all.” Jon must see the uncertainty I feel flicker across my face.

“Remember, Cara, we don’t know who GoodSam is. He might not have anything to do with Grace’s kidnapping. We shouldn’t waste Upton’s time until we know more about him. What does Grace say about him in the diary?”

He carefully flicks through a few of the pages before he looks at me. I’m embarrassed. I’ve read the diary so many times now but I hadn’t noticed—Grace doesn’t mention GoodSam anywhere.

Jon only needs to glance at me before he says, “What, she didn’t say anything about him at all?” He fans the diary in front of him, making Grace’s small secrets wink out at me from the pages. I nod and he looks straight ahead towards the horizon for a moment. He scratches his beard before turning back to me. “That’s strange. Did the two of you talk about boys much?”

I shake my head. Meg talked more about boys than Grace. It never really occurred to me to talk about that stuff with Grace. After all, she’d never even been kissed. Or so I had always thought. But I want to give him something else. I want, I realize, to impress him again.