‘She’s had a few. She doesn’t tell me about all of them. Even though we’re very close, Fi likes her secrets. I always know if she’s seeing a nice chap because she’s all hugs and kisses and “I love you, Mam”. If she’s with somebody she’s not happy with, she just comes home at night and heads straight to her room. She’ll have a face on her for a while until he dumps her.’

‘Why wouldn’t she dump him?’ Ray asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Caroline shrugged. ‘For all the love we give Fiona, she has an awful tendency to pick the bad lads. She’s seeing some guy at the moment; I don’t know his name. But I know she’s not happy.’

Caroline stared at her hands, then looked up at Tom. ‘I should have asked more questions, shouldn’t I? I know I should have. I’ve been too distracted. This last year, Fiona has been making sillier and sillier choices. I should have been more involved. It’s just … I had somebody else to take care of.’

The door to the sitting room opened and Richard came back in. He was carrying an infant, no more than twelve months, a little boy with red hair and sleepy eyes. He’d just woken from his nap.

‘Is this your son?’ Tom asked, confused. He’d been under the impression the other Holland sibling was older.

‘Our son?’ Caroline said, puzzled. ‘No, Fergus is out back.’

Tom turned back to Richard, confused.

‘He may as well be our son, Caroline,’ he said, shifting the baby around to face them. ‘This is Cían. He’s Fiona’s. We’ve no idea who his dad is. She’s never told us. And she doesn’t bother with him much, either.’

‘It’s still no reason, is it?’ Caroline said. ‘Just because a girl is a little wild, that’s no reason for something to happen her?’

The inspector shook his head and looked back to the baby.

He’d had no idea that Fiona Holland was a mother. None of the news items had mentioned a child. He’d scanned her file – if it was in there, he hadn’t spotted it.

And now there was another, even more important person he had to find her for. Her baby.

Fergus Holland was burning cuttings at the far end of his family’s back garden.

‘What do you think of the parents?’ Ray asked, as they walked down the long lawn.

‘They seem terrified,’ Tom said. ‘I’ve no doubt they love that girl. By the looks of things, they’re rearing her child for her, and unquestioningly. Daddy’s princess and Mammy’s pride and joy.’