‘I’m in the kitchen,’ he said. ‘You’re looking into the back of a shelving unit. It’s an internal door for the two rooms. The owners must have blocked it off so they could put cupboards on this wall.’

Laura smacked her forehead. They were idiots.

‘Well, that was embarrassing,’ Ray said, grinning in at her sheepishly.

She snorted. He really seemed to be enjoying himself.

There was nothing of personal value in the cottage to tell them about its previous occupant. Cormac Ryan hadn’t left anything behind – no clothes, pictures or books, not even a newspaper. The old fireplace in the kitchen was covered in feathers and birdshit and the whole place reeked of mildew. A thick carpet covered the floor of every room, even the kitchen, in some places so damp it was like treading on a sponge. The sparse furniture was easily inspected and there was nothing in the rest of the desolate cupboards save the odd piece of broken crockery.

The rooms upstairs were the same. The only thing of any interest was a nest of mice hiding beneath the ancient divan bed.

Laura shrieked in terror as two of the poor creatures fled the scene and Ray dropped onto the bed, laughing.

‘You’re great value for money,’ he said. ‘It’s like I’ve taken you to a haunted house. Come on, it’s getting too dark to search. Let’s get out of here before the Blair witch finds us. Or those giant rodents regroup and attack.’

Laura glared at him, her heart still racing. Her imagination was too vivid. She was well aware of that – in his company especially.

The first droplets of rain landed on the rickety windowpanes as they descended the stairs back to the ground floor.

‘You’re satisfied that taxi driver had no way of hiding Mary Ellen here?’ Ray said, stopping in the hall. He wasn’t jesting this time. He wanted Laura to know that, for all his banter, he was taking her concerns seriously.

She nodded.

‘I can’t see anything Ultan Doyle could have missed. I didn’t spot any outhouses or sheds out the back. We could take a walk through the woods – but if there were any small buildings let with this cottage, Doyle would have known about them. No, I guess we have to take him at face value. The taxi man brought her home and he went back to the village. She must have gone missing after that, like Doyle says. I believe her family when they say they didn’t see her, but maybe she was planning to leave and something happened on the way.’