‘The same car?’ I ask, pausing with the banana halfway to my mouth. ‘This is good, isn’t it?’ I look to Kelly for confirmation.

‘Yes, in a way,’ she nods, ‘we now have two separate sightings of Laurel getting into a car, both witnesses saying it was an SUV, although we don’t yet know for definite which make. We’ll be looking into this further, obviously. We also have had a witness call in to say they saw a woman.’

‘A woman?’

‘Yes – someone saw a woman hanging around outside the entrance shortly before Laurel was last seen. She was alone and didn’t enter the field. The caller said it was almost as though she was waiting for someone. DS Wright will be chasing that up too.’

‘It still might be nothing,’ Dominic says, before pushing his stool back and getting to his feet. We watch in silence as he leaves us, and as the tension thickens again, that thick, stifling aura filling the room, I slide away, shoving my feet into trainers and escaping out to the fresh air, away from all of them.

*

The volunteer hub has been moved from the school hall to the community centre next door, to allow the children to get back into a normal routine. Part of me feels as though the school has acknowledged that there’s a chance that Laurel won’t be found anytime soon by moving the search hub, but equally I get that they need to think of the other children – it’s been ten days now since Laurel was last seen.

Pushing the door open, I hear voices and realise the hub is still buzzing, only slightly less so than at the start of the search. While many of the original volunteers have had to go back to work and their everyday lives, a few dedicated members of the community are still here, still working hard. Posters are still piled up waiting to be given out, and a new stack of T-shirts bearing Laurel’s face wait to be worn by new volunteers. I see Ruth as I enter, still in her familiar outfit of worn out, filthy jeans and headscarf. I raise a hand to her, but I don’t stop when she looks as though she wants to speak to me, instead hurrying past her to where Ella stands by the toilets.

‘Ella?’ I was sure she would have been busy at work, doing whatever it is that she does, by now. ‘You’re still here.’

‘Just checking in to see if there’s anything I can do,’ she says. She holds her phone in one hand, and her eyes keep drifting down towards it as though waiting for a call or a text.

‘Well, I’m sure Cheryl will find you something.’ I nod towards the front of the hall where Cheryl is busy handing out leaflets.