It was late Monday afternoon. Bloom had caught the train to Plymouth where Karene had been staying in a hotel since the ball. They sat in her minimalist bedroom, Bloom on the desk chair and Karene on the small sofa.

‘So the last you saw of Harry, he was lying unconscious on the floor?’

Karene shook her head. ‘I saw the paramedics with him. I should have gone over; I wanted to but the medic said to stay put. He told me to hold on to this woman’s arm until he returned. So I did that. I watched as they took Harry away.’

‘And you’ve checked every hospital?’ asked Bloom. ‘All of them?’

Karene blew her nose and nodded. ‘In a thirty-mile radius.’

Bloom had known Karene Harper since their university days and had never seen her upset or tearful; she was a little taken aback by the emotion. Karene had always been one of those irrepressibly positive types, upbeat and comfortable using humour to bat away the bad times. It had made sense that Karene specialized in mental resilience: she clearly possessed it in abundance. She was the youngest of five siblings, with four older brothers and a father who had never expected his daughter to amount to much. But she was tough. Or at least she had been. It had been years since Bloom had seen Karene, so her call the previous evening had come as a bit of a surprise.

‘Where is he, Augusta?’ Karene said as fresh tears fell across her cheeks. ‘Why wasn’t he taken to Derriford Hospital like everyone else?’

‘You said he wasn’t badly injured. Maybe he did discharge himself?’

‘But Derriford has no record of admitting him. I’ve tried to get the police and the military to help, but they’re obsessed with the bomber. Harry isn’t a priority apparently.’ The bitterness in Karene’s tone matched her look of disgust.

‘How about the paramedics?’ asked Bloom. ‘Have you managed to speak to them?’

Karene shook her head.

Bloom made a note to track them down. ‘It was a terrorist attack. A suicide bomber. Is that what they’re thinking?’

Karene nodded.

‘Have you spoken to Harry’s colleagues in the Navy?’

‘Yes. I called Harry’s boss as soon as I realized what had happened. But no one’s heard from Harry at work. It’s been two days, Augusta. I’ve just got this horrible feeling …’

‘That he’s in the morgue somewhere?’

Karene blinked a few times.

‘Or …’ said Bloom.

‘Or what? What else could it be?’ Karene was clearly desperate for answers.

Bloom paused for a moment. The ambulance crew would have been obliged to deliver their patient to a hospital. But no hospital had received him. ‘I think the answer’s with the paramedics. If that’s what they were.’

‘What do you mean?’ said Karene.