Another severe look came her way.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I shouldn’t be telling you your job.’ She paused. ‘But it might all be resolved, if you find her on a list. You’d have identity, home address, next of kin, passport details.’ She grew more animated. ‘It would give you a whole lot to go on.’

‘Indeed,’ he said repressively, before opening a familiar map of the local area and spreading it out on his table. ‘So, is there any more you can tell me? You walked back to the Corner House via the roads, instead of using the footpath? Have I got that right?’

‘Yes. Grace didn’t want to go past the business park. She seemed to be saying that that was where she’d escaped from.’136

The officer traced the paths and roads with the end of his pen. Thea watched, thinking again how very different the printed marks were from the reality on the ground. ‘Your detective sergeants have got all sorts of bits of fluff and photos from there that will confirm what I’ve told you. You’ll see how terribly overgrown it all is. She could easily have kept out of sight under all that vegetation.’

‘That’s a distance of less than half a mile, then, from the business park.’

‘That’s right. I’d say hardly more than a quarter of a mile, actually.’

‘Don’t you think a determined search would soon have found her?’

‘No, not really. They wouldn’t know which way she’d gone, once she was over that enormous stile. The wall’s much too high for anybody to see over it.’

He sighed and shook his head.

She pointed again at the map. ‘It must be a local landmark. You have to understand what it’s like there. You can’t see what’s happening on the other side of it. Grace could have gone in any of three directions. Given that there would have been at least a few people and dogs around on a Saturday, it would be risky for anybody with malicious motives to start crashing about searching the undergrowth for her. Any walkers would think it peculiar if they saw men charging through the woods beating the bushes and so forth. If they wanted to be discreet about it, she’d easily have managed to stay hidden. And she didn’t say how many there were. There might only have been one.’137

‘Did she say “they” or “he”?’

‘Good question. Let me think. “They”. She definitely said “they”.’

‘So what else did she say?’

‘Well, she definitely didn’t want me to go to the police. She said she’d been deceived somehow. She said she’d made a stupid mistake, something to do with greed.’ More was coming back to her, even after she’d assumed she’d reported the whole conversation. ‘Yes, that’s what she said, more or less. She obviously didn’t want to tell me any details. Perhaps because she thought I’d disapprove. Or worse. If she was involved in trafficking rare animals, and let that slip, I’d have certainly called the police. Obviously.’