Megan swallowed hard before speaking. ‘Hello, Ray, it’s Megan, Megan Weller. He’s sent… he’s sent me photographs in the post. Photos of Lottie imprisoned in some terrible place. I’ve never seen such awful images. They’re like something out of a fright film, but real. That’s the thing I can’t get my head around. My little girl is trapped in a cage. The photos are actually real.’ She sat down on the nearest chair for fear of fainting. ‘What should I do, Ray? Tell me what to do.’

‘Where are you now?’

Megan resisted the urge to vomit again as her gut spasmed. ‘I’m… I’m at the house, in the kitchen. Is, is that okay? I don’t know what… I don’t know what to do for the best. Should I be somewhere else?’

‘Take a breath, love. Where are the photographs now? Let’s take this one step at a time.’

‘They’re on the table next to me.’

‘And the envelope they came in?’

‘What?’

‘The envelope. Where’s the envelope?’

‘It’s on the hall tiles. I was s-sick. I need… I need to clean up.’

‘Okay, now listen to me. I don’t want you to touch the photographs again, or the envelope. I want you to leave them exactly where they are until I get there. We can worry about cleaning up the hall after that.’

Megan glanced down at the photos and then quickly looked away. ‘Are you coming now?’

‘Just stay where you are. I’m on my way.’

‘Please hurry.’

‘I will, love, promise. I’m heading towards my car as we speak. And I’ll come in through the back. Don’t worry when you hear the gate opening. Keep the door locked until I knock. You’ll see my face through the glass.’

Lewis was wearing thin blue nitrile gloves when he picked up the photographs from the kitchen table about twenty minutes later.

Megan watched him closely, unsure of what to do or say as he studied each image in turn, the haunted expression in his eyes telling its own story. Lewis placed the photos into an evidence bag, searching his mind for something positive to say. Anything that may relieve Megan’s trepidation even slightly. He steadied himself, looking her in the face as she continued to fall apart in front of him. ‘I’m sorry you had to see those. It can’t have been easy. But at least they suggest whoever’s got Lottie is keeping her alive. That gives us hope. And the photos may give us some ideas as to the type of property she’s being held in. We can have them looked at by a property expert, someone who can comment on the features in the room, the floorboards, the wall in the background. As terrible as the photos are, they may help us find her.’

‘And we know they were posted in Swansea.’

‘Yeah, that’s right, we do. The postmark couldn’t be clearer.’

Megan clutched her arms to her chest. ‘Who’d do such a wicked thing? To keep my little girl in a cage with conditions worse than an animal?’