‘Sorry, but I don’t know – I’ve only just woken. Perhaps he’s popped out for some milk or something?’

Elaine joined the conversation. ‘I’ve been down since six and there was no sign of him then.’

‘Will he have his phone?’ Suni asked.

‘I should think so. I’ll try it and see.’ Martha grabbed her phone from the coffee table and found his number. It rang for what seemed like an age before she was told that the person she was calling was unavailable. She left a message. ‘Richard, where are you? DI Radford’s here and so should you be. Ring me as soon as you get this.’ She ended the call then looked at the detective and shrugged slightly, not knowing what to say.

‘Martha, did you hear from the kidnappers yesterday?’ Radford asked.

‘No, of course not... at least I didn’t.’ Her mind caught up with the unspoken suggestion the DI was making and she flopped down onto a chair. ‘You don’t think that’s where he is, do you?’ she asked hesitantly.

‘It’s a possibility, but you know him better than me – do you think he could have been in touch with them and kept it from us?’

‘Before all this I would have said no, but then I thought I knew everything there was to know about my husband. Now I’m not so sure. It would explain why the kidnappers didn’t ring yesterday while you were here.’

‘Try his mobile again, will you? It’s about all we can do until we speak to him.’

The phone went to messages. It would be a waiting game yet again, so Martha excused herself and went upstairs to get dressed. Closing her bedroom door, she leaned heavily against it, shut her eyes and sighed. Will this nightmare ever be over?

Blinking back tears and attempting to pull herself together Martha caught sight of the note on her dressing table. She grabbed greedily at it and scanned the hastily written words. It didn’t specifically say Richard had gone to meet with the kidnappers just that she wasn’t to worry and he’d be back as soon as he could.

For a moment Martha mentally debated whether to show DI Radford the note. As he was downstairs and would probably be staying until Richard turned up she decided he should see it, and pulled on some underclothes, a pair of jeans and a sweater before returning down to him.

DI Radford was already on the telephone issuing orders, a solemn expression on his face. Martha waited until he’d finished the call and then passed him the note. He read it, raised an eyebrow at its ambiguity and gave the note back to Martha.

‘Keep trying his phone and leave messages if he doesn’t answer. Tell him if he’s already handed over the money we need to know when and where he last saw the kidnappers.’