“Yeah, that’s what we were talking about. I said she didn’t have to do anything, that she didn’t have to get involved just to try to make a good impression on him.” He tipped his head toward his father.

“But she decided to do it.”

Trevor nodded. “She said she was going to give her friend a call. That’s all. Just call her up and tell her something had happened around that time at Knight’s, and that if she saw anything she should get in touch with you.”

“That was the last time you spoke with her?” Duckworth asked.

His son nodded.

“You remember anything at all about this woman?”

“It was dark. And like I said, I didn’t go over. She was probably around our age.”

“White? Black?”

“White.”

“Had she been in Knight’s earlier?”

“Not that we saw.”

“And no name? Carol must have mentioned her name if you talked about this a few times.”

“At first, when I asked who it was—you know, right after she saw her—she just said she was a friend. And it didn’t really matter then. It wasn’t an issue until you came and talked to us. And I said, after, what about your friend, and Carol said, maybe I should get in touch with her.”

“How would she know how to contact her?”

“She said she knew her from where she worked, that she had a number for her.”

Duckworth sighed. “Okay, that whole business, that’s my problem. What we want to do now is confirm that Carol is okay.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Is it possible,” Duckworth asked gently, “that maybe she thought things weren’t working out? That she didn’t want to see you any more, but couldn’t find a way to tell you to your face? So she turned off her phone, didn’t answer her door?”

Trevor looked at him with misted eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, if that’s what she did, I wasn’t picking up the signals, you know?”

Duckworth put a hand on his shoulder. “Here’s what I’m going to do. You don’t want to give her the idea you’re stalking her or something. So why don’t I go into the town hall, down to the planning department, and see if she’s there. In the meantime, you stay here, keep trying her on your phone. If you want, go back to her apartment, see if her car turns up. Does that sound like a plan?”

Trevor nodded. “I guess so.”

Duckworth smiled. “Good. That’s what we’re going to do.”

He gave his son a hug, then gave Maureen a kiss on the cheek as he headed for the door.

Duckworth phoned Trevor ninety minutes later.

“You got any news?” he asked his son.

“Nothing. I’m at her place. No sign of her car. You?”