I did another search, plugging in the hotel’s name and the date that Zac and Jane stayed there. When I considered the drama of their long weekend being curtailed so abruptly, I added the word police, then hit the return key. There was nothing, but then I remembered that in Ireland they said Garda, not police, so I substituted that. The third result down was practically flashing.

Woman Beaten, Gardaí Called to Hotel in County Cork.

I didn’t want it to be true, but nothing I could do would change those words. They appeared in a headline from a local newspaper that wasn’t putting its articles online four years ago. The paper had gone the way of so many publications and since closed down, so the article wasn’t clickable. There was only one way I could think of to get hold of it. In seconds, I was on the British Library website to pre-register for the reader pass that would allow me to access their newspaper archive. Somehow, I was going to have to get to London to read it.

That was my morning’s task completed, but I continued to stare at the computer screen, still feeling that I should be doing more. I let my mind wander.

Four years earlier, when I’d tried to join MI5, I’d created an email account using the name Helen Graham. I’d also got hold of a photo ID and credit card to match, thinking even then that I might need them some day.

As I sat in the library, looking at its ocean-blue walls, I considered what I might do to plot my escape and be ready to leave quickly. I felt thankful for that alternative identity as I opened a new online bank account in Helen Graham’s name, using an address Maxine had given me to establish residential history.

Then I researched some care homes for my grandmother. The one I liked best was in Bath, which was far enough from Cornwall, and a place where Zac had no known history. Milly and I once took a weekend trip there, and we were so happy, doing all the tourist things like two complete geeks.

I would do everything I could to help Jane, to look for her, as long as I safely could. But if I had to leave quickly, I needed to be able to take care of my baby. I needed to be in a position to act calmly, neatly and completely. I couldn’t act rashly. I realised, though, that to do this effectively, I was going to need Maxine’s help.

Cornwall, Mid-March 2017