‘Okay, love,’ he said loud and clear. ‘Will do. That sounds lovely. I’ll see you in a little while then.’

He hung up and I wondered if he would go through with it.

The little blue dot was well past Ripon now, on the A6108 and still moving fast towards Middleham. I just hoped that Marcus arrived there first.

I remotely switched the tag off and then waited, making myself sit still and watch as the second hand of the kitchen clock moved round and round the face, counting out the complete circuits it made.

The internet news report had stated the NeverLoseIt tags were programmed to automatically alert any person it was secretly tracking by showing a message on their phone and also beeping, but only after anything between eight and twenty-four hours had elapsed. I didn’t know whether that was in total, or continuously, or only when switched on, but I was taking no chances.

After ten very long minutes, I switched it on again.

I watched intently as the little blue dot moved quickly into Middleham before stopping in the marketplace. Then it started moving again, much more slowly this time, down the Leyburn Road towards number 42.

I called Marcus, and he answered straight away. He’d been waiting for my call.

‘Are you back?’ I asked.

‘Yes, got in about five minutes ago.’

‘Valance is right outside your door already. Get everything in position while Doris lets him in.’

‘Doris has gone out to a WI meeting. I’m here on my own.’

I clearly heard his doorbell ringing in the background.

‘I’ve got to go,’ he said.

‘Good luck, Marcus,’ I called out, but he had already hung up.

I stared at the little blue dot, spreading two fingers wide on the screen to expand the view. The dot moved slowly into the house as the doorbell was answered, and I could imagine Marcus leading Valance up the stairs and across the landing to his over-tidy bedsit.

I switched the tag off again and sat there, hoping nothing would go wrong.

Chico came into the kitchen rubbing sleep from his eyes. He stood by the sink, his back to me, looking out through the window at the uniformly grey overcast sky.

‘What time is it?’ he asked.

‘Six o’clock,’ I replied, glancing up at the kitchen clock.

‘Mornin’ or evenin’?’

I laughed. ‘Evening.’

‘Thank God for that. I feared I’d been asleep all night.’ He turned round and yawned. ‘Anythin’ happenin’?’

‘Valance has gone to see Marcus Capes,’ I said.

That woke Chico up properly.

‘Has he indeed? How do you know?’