‘I was at Bovey station dealing with a teenage tearaway who’d taken his dad’s car for a joyride when I got the call.’ Pat sighed, staring off into the distance. ‘Tina was concerned that Jonie was late back home. I told her not to worry – she wouldn’t be far away. Jesus. I can hear myself saying those words. Anyway, I left the station and drove back to Mapledon, assuming by the time I reached Tina’s Jonie would already be home, and Mark would’ve chastised her for her lateness. But obviously that wasn’t the case. It was about eight o’clock when the search party began looking for her. Tina had said she’d called all of the parents of Jonie’s friends and none had seen her. Apart from you. But Muriel had told Tina you’d got home at six. So that left a two-hour gap to account for.’

‘But I told you about her getting into Billy’s truck, you knew that. The police knew that.’

‘That wasn’t the day she went missing, Bel— sorry, Anna. You and Muriel didn’t come into the station until the Friday, about thirty-six hours after she was reported missing.’

‘That can’t be right, surely? It must’ve been the same day, or maybe the day after if it was late …’ Anna placed her fingers on her temples, trying to remember.

‘No. It’s right. It was the reason I felt so anxious. And angry, if I’m honest. Had we had the information straight away …’ Pat tailed off, his eyes sliding away from Anna’s.

‘Shit. If I’d given the information right away, you’d probably have caught him before he killed her.’ A huge lump lodged in Anna’s throat; tears stung her eyes.

‘You were just a kid – you probably didn’t realise the gravity of the situation. You said yourself a minute ago, kids don’t really think of the consequences. You wouldn’t have necessarily thought about the danger Jonie was in.’

It hit Anna then. She would’ve known. She must’ve. It was Billy Cawley – she’d been scared of him, frightened that he’d somehow get them back for the Knock, Knock pranks. If she’d seen Jonie getting into his truck, why hadn’t she said something immediately?

‘I think I would’ve known the danger, Pat. Every kid was scared of Billy – God, even some parents – I must’ve just been terrified – in shock or something, surely?’

Pat looked thoughtful for a moment, then gave a nod. ‘Yes, actually, I do remember that’s what your mother said at the station: that you’d been in shock and hadn’t spoken a word. She said she’d had to coax it out of you slowly, and once you’d told her, she’d immediately taken you to the station.’

That made more sense to Anna. She’d been a timid thing, no doubt she’d have been traumatised by what she’d witnessed. But, nonetheless, a sense of unease rocked her, sending a tingling cold sensation, like icicles, cascading down her spine.

Had she wanted Jonie to be in trouble with Billy? Could that also be a reason why she’d stayed silent until almost two days later? To punish her?