‘Hey, Richie, you know that fifty you owe me? Get up the yard, you remember it well – yeah, I said your man would go down in the fifth round and you said he’d win on points. That’s the one, you cheeky bastard. Well, I’m willing to let it slide but I need you to look up somebody for me. It’s urgent. Yeah. Cormac Ryan. Two thousand five. Good man. You can ring me back on this number.’

Willie put his phone down, the smile he’d forced dying on his lips.

‘He needs a few minutes.’

The inspector waited impatiently, casting his eyes around the room. His colleagues all wore worried looks, their heads bent over their desks, fingers clacking on keyboards and nearly every phone on the go.

The door opened again and Linda McCarn strode in, took one look around and made a beeline for Tom.

‘I’m here to help.’

The inspector felt momentarily panicked. If word had started to get out that he’d directed the team to look for Laura, Kennedy would hear of it and come stomping down to the incident room to set the inspector’s priorities straight. Tom was ready for him, but he’d rather not have to deal with that right now.

‘I caught your deputy on the way out,’ Linda said.

‘Ah,’ Tom breathed a sigh of relief.

‘You’re worried he’s taken her, aren’t you? Ray looks like he’s dying inside.’

Tom nodded.

‘It would be a departure from his routine,’ Linda tried to reassure him.

‘Fiona Holland would have been a break in the routine,’ he replied. ‘You said that snatching her in July could show that he’s escalating.’

The psychologist placed her hand on his shoulder, well aware of her own words and wishing and praying that she’d been wrong.

‘I’m starting to wonder,’ Tom said, ‘if Fiona Holland was taken by this guy at all. Maybe he was just waiting out the year or he has somebody we don’t know about.’

Willie’s phone sprang to life on the desk, causing all three to jump. He’d recorded his grandchildren laughing while he tickled them, so the ringtone was one of manic giggles.

‘Sorry,’ he said, answering it quickly.

‘Richie. What? Yes, that’s excellent. Okay … I see. That is interesting. Email it up to me, will you? Good man. No, don’t worry, it’s for DI Tom Reynolds, head of the murder squad. You won’t get into trouble and if we need to, we’ll sort out a warrant. Yeah, maybe I will take your offer up. I wouldn’t be the first copper to moonlight with a bit of taxi driving.’

Willie hung up and turned to the computer.

‘How do you work this thing?’ he said, unfamiliar with Macs.