Nikki swung the car into a lay-by intended for church business and they walked back.

In the absence of a bell, Joseph rapped hard on the wooden front door.

A dog barked sharply, and then they heard a voice call out. ‘It’s open. And Swampy doesn’t bite.’

Joseph pushed the door, and was greeted by a small brown and white spaniel that barked excitedly, then fled back into the cottage.

‘We’re looking for Kris Brown,’ called out Joseph.

‘Then you’ve found him.’ The young man was tall, skinny in the extreme, and had a floppy mop of almost black hair and thin wire-framed glasses. ‘What can I do for you?’ he asked, mildly suspiciously.

Both Nikki and Joseph produced their warrant cards. ‘We’d like a word please, Mr Brown.’

Nikki watched the eyes. After looking closely at their cards, he looked up and she saw the suspicion had been replaced by confusion. He shrugged, then stood back from the door.

‘I suppose you’d better come in.’

The door led directly into the sitting room. He pointed vaguely towards two armchairs that flanked the fireplace. ‘Sit down, if you want to.’ He perched on the arm of an overstuffed sofa and stared at them. ‘So, what’s this about?’

‘You are a friend of Kerry Anderson, Mr Brown?’

‘Yes.’ The eyes narrowed slightly.

‘When did you see her last?’

The vagueness fell away. ‘Kerry?’ He said sharply. Now there was concern, in both his expression and his voice. ‘Has something happened to her?’

‘Well, we thought perhaps you might know the answer to that, Mr Brown.’ Nikki didn’t take her eyes off him. If he was acting, he was bloody good. But then Nikki had seen some award-winning performances in her time.

‘Well! Has she had an accident, or what?’

‘Can you tell us when you saw her last?’ repeated Nikki.

The young man’s Adam’s apple jerked convulsively in his throat as he swallowed. ‘I … well, I …’ he rubbed his forehead. ‘Oh yeah, it was the day before yesterday.’

‘And where was that, Mr Brown?’ added Joseph calmly.

‘At the Hub.’

‘At the University?’

‘Yeah. She wanted to talk to me, and as she had some spare time before one of her lectures, we grabbed a coffee.’ He pushed his glasses further up on to the bridge of his nose and stared straight at Joseph. ‘Look, man, if something’s happened to Kerry, you have to tell me.’

‘We don’t have to tell you anything,’ said Nikki flatly. ‘So what did she want to talk about?‘

‘Uh, nothing really. Well nothing important.’

‘Let us be the judge of that.’ Nikki’s tone was edgy. ‘What did she want?’

Brown tugged nervously at the hem of his baggy sweatshirt. ‘I … I can’t remember.’

‘Oh come on! Kerry asks to see you, to talk, and you can’t remember why?’