Inside the playgroup, two of the kids were crying, confused about Bella, and terrified by their sobbing mums. Suze was good with children; she had two teenagers of her own. Kneeling to their level, she tried to calm them down. It helped that she wasn’t in uniform; they thought Suze was just another mum. One girl was too shy to speak. A boy kept asking: ‘Can I have Dora?’ That made the mothers cry even more.

When Bella had gone missing, four mothers were in the room—how could they not have noticed?

With the mothers’ consent, Caruso asked the kids what had happened that morning.

‘Last week, I played in the sandpit,’ said one of the twin boys.

‘Bella was here yesterday,’ said the other.

Caruso hoped they could understand the next question: ‘Did anyone come to playgroup who wasn’t normally here?’

‘Santa came at Christmas,’ chirped the loudest twin. ‘He gave me a dumb car. I wanted a truck.’

‘Anyone else today?’

‘Jimmy,’ whispered the blonde-haired girl, Morgan.

‘Who’s Jimmy?’

Her whisper became a little louder. ‘He’s friendly. He’s big.’

‘Is Jimmy a grown-up or a child?’

‘He’s strong. He can lift me up to the sky.’

Must be a grown-up. Caruso squatted down closer to the girl.

‘Is Jimmy someone’s father? Or a friend?’

Morgan shook her head, and then changed it to a nod.

‘He says he’s my friend.’

‘Do you know where Jimmy lives?’

Morgan frowned at the question and replied carefully: ‘Only I saw him.’

‘Can you tell me what Jimmy looks like?’

‘He has hair like me. But he’s big like Daddy. Big and strong. Really, really strong.’

Caruso nodded at Suze, allowing himself a small sigh. This is it. Bella’s with this Jimmy bloke.

As Suze hurried over to the huddle of mums to find out Jimmy’s surname and address, he watched her body language—a frown, a shake of her head, a glance at Morgan. She was back with him in a heartbeat and Caruso felt for his radio. They’d get to Jimmy’s house ASAP.

‘What’s his surname, Suze? Where does he live?’

‘Sorry.’ She shook her head and motioned him closer so she could speak directly into his ear. ‘Jimmy is an imaginary friend.’

Caruso made a clicking noise through his teeth and stood up straight again. After all that mountain biking last week, squatting hurt his fucking knees.