‘Sarah’s mother didn’t realize Jessie was missing until they met up in Blake’s for lunch.’ Sal was crying now. She’d held herself together for the younger kids, but now she started sobbing.

He took her in his arms and held her tight. ‘She’ll be fine. You know our Jessie. Sense of direction of a gnat. Remember how she got lost in Boots in Morpeth. Just tell me what happened. Didn’t her friends see her wander off?’ His voice light and calm – he could be on the stage.

‘Apparently they split up into two groups, and each thought she was with the other. It was only when they met up for their lunch that they saw she wasn’t there. A couple of the older ones went back to look for her, but they couldn’t see her.’ Sal reached behind her for a tea towel and dried her eyes with it. ‘Sarah’s mother thought Jess had just headed home. She phoned, expecting her to be here.’

He didn’t say anything, but fumed silently at the irresponsibility of the woman who was supposed to be looking after Jess, and at the carelessness of her friends.

‘Your boss phoned,’ Sal said. For some reason she never used Vera’s name. ‘She asked me to email her a photo of Jess. She said they were checking the CCTV in town anyway, and she’d get her people to keep an eye out for Jess.’

Joe thought that Vera’s mind must be working the same way as his. She’d already been looking for Malcolm’s picture on the CCTV in town. Now she’d get the watchers looking for Malcolm and Jessie together.

‘There you are, then,’ Joe said. ‘They’re doing all they can. They’ll have her home in no time.’ Even as he spoke he wondered if he was really being kind. Perhaps he should prepare Sal for the possibility that their daughter had been abducted. She’d hear soon enough in the media that they’d allowed the suspect in the murder investigation to escape, and then she’d be furious with him for keeping her in the dark. But he couldn’t face telling her the truth now. ‘Look, I’ve got to go back to work. I can do more there anyway. I’ll call you if I hear anything.’ Knowing that he was a coward.

He opened the door into the living room and shouted hello and goodbye to the kids there. They smiled and waved before their eyes returned to the screen. He drove down the road and parked round the corner, where Sal couldn’t see him, then phoned Vera’s mobile.

‘Where are you?’ she said. ‘Your Sal needs you with her. She’s falling to bits.’