‘Yeah? And look what you pulled from wearing that gear – Cleo! And did I get any credit? Nope, just you whinging on about the cost! So, anyhow, Niall Paternoster – strange name.’

‘Strange name?’

Branson nodded.

Grace looked at him quizzically. ‘So that makes him a suspect?’

‘Just saying – Paternosters are a kind of lift, with no doors. You jump into them, onto a moving platform.’

‘They have one at Munich Police HQ, I’ve been in it,’ Grace said. ‘A bit weird.’

‘They sound bloody dangerous.’

‘And your point is?’

‘The name – it’s odd.’

They walked through the automatic doors of Tesco into the cool, air-conditioned interior.

A red-haired employee, with the name Tim on his badge, was adjusting a display advertising a special offer for wines. Grace approached him and showed him his warrant card. ‘Detective Superintendent Grace and my colleague, Detective Inspector Branson, of Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team. We’d like to speak to your Head of Security, please.’

‘Yes, yes, of course, sir. May I tell her what it’s about?’

‘A lady has been reported missing by her husband. He believes she came into this store yesterday afternoon, but he has not seen her since. We’d like to view the CCTV footage from between 3 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. yesterday, and we would like to talk to any members of staff who were present then who might have seen her.’ He showed him, on his tablet, the photograph of Eden Paternoster that Robinson had emailed.

The man frowned. ‘Ah, yes, this rings a bell. I think her husband came in just before we closed yesterday. I spoke to him at one point and we searched the store thoroughly.’

‘And you didn’t find her?’

‘No, we didn’t. She certainly wasn’t in here.’ He hesitated. ‘If you’ll just wait here a moment, officers?’

‘Sure.’

He hurried off.

‘With the amount of security in this place we must be able to find something to help with this,’ Branson said, looking around, trying to spot the cameras. Following his gaze, Grace nodded, then out of the corner of his eye saw Tim hurrying back towards them, alongside a woman he was surprised to recognize.

In her late fifties, with a mane of side-parted silver hair, she wore a chalk-striped trouser suit and high-heeled shoes that made her taller than he remembered. As she approached with an outstretched hand, she gave him a broad grin of recognition. ‘My God, Roy! I keep reading about you all the time in the Argus – so happy to see you got promoted to where you deserve! I understand you wanted to see the Head of Security – that’s me!’

He shook former Detective Inspector Corinne Edgerton’s hand warmly. Corinne had been one of his team when he was first promoted to Major Crime. He could not believe – and was so happy to see – that she had landed here, in this role.

He introduced Glenn Branson, who had been a uniformed PC at the time when she’d retired, then briefly outlined the situation. ‘What I would like to see is video confirmation of Eden Paternoster leaving her husband’s car at the time he has stated.’