‘I’m inclined to agree. Their distress seems genuine enough to me, although I know what you mean about the undercurrent. Still, the Stones are a couple used to getting their own way, especially him, which probably accounts for them being rather prickly. It’s a bit of a conundrum this case – an unusually low amount for the kidnappers to demand and an unusual family to pick. They’re not uber-rich or in the public eye, which is why I still favour it being someone they know if it’s not one of them, of course.’

‘Yeah, my money would be on someone known to them too, someone on the periphery of their lives perhaps, who they wouldn’t initially think of. Let’s hope they’ve done some serious thinking today and come up with an idea or two. If it’s not a known person, then I’d bank on it being amateurs, as you say it’s an unusually small amount.’

The conversation was interrupted by Alex’s telephone. He looked at the incoming number. ‘It’s Suni,’ he said and put her on speaker so they could both listen.

‘We’ve had a call from the kidnappers, sir. They’ve given us a time and place and Mr Stone asked for confirmation that Danny was safe and well, so they’re going to ring later.’

‘Thanks, Suni. Right, Graham – back to the Stones’ house!’

Martha Stone was visibly upset. Richard had taken the call and remembered everything the police told him regarding keeping the kidnappers on the line as long as possible and asking for confirmation that Danny was safe and well. Radford asked to hear the recording of the conversation and Suni played it back. He and Graham Foster listened carefully.

‘Well done for keeping your cool, Mr Stone. The ball’s back in their court now and it’s up to them to provide proof of Danny’s well-being.’

‘How will they do that?’ Martha asked.

‘Probably just by letting him say a few words over the phone. Suni, anything on the tracing?’ He looked hopefully at the FLO.

‘No, sir. They used a throwaway pay as you go, as expected, so tracing was out.’ Suni already had the entire conversation transposed onto her laptop and sent a copy of the tape to the technical department to analyse it for any clues, background noises, and such. Suni explained this to Martha and Richard, but they struggled to understand some aspects of what was happening.

‘Why have they left it until today to give us a time and place? It’s the third bloody day,’ Richard asked.

‘Probably to make you more anxious. If you’re desperate, you’re more likely to pay up, or they could simply be giving you the time to gather the money together.’ Radford turned to Suni. ‘Play the tape back again, will you?’