‘Absolutely not. I work mostly in an advisory capacity there and rarely come into contact with the clients.’ He seemed annoyed that Martha had mentioned this, but the detectives picked up on it.

‘Do you attend court for this kind of work?’ DS Foster asked.

‘Only very occasionally, and certainly not recently.’

Alex Radford narrowed his eyes. ‘Perhaps you could give us a list of some of the cases you’ve been involved in, both here in Bristol and London?’

Richard drew in a deep breath. ‘I’ll get in touch with the clerk of chambers and get him to compile a list for you.’

The DI smiled. ‘Thank you, that’ll be very helpful.’

The telephone rang again and all eyes swivelled towards it. Martha gasped – her hand covered her mouth. Richard looked at Alex Radford who nodded towards the phone, a sign to answer.

Everything from then on seemed to play out in slow motion for Martha. She listened as her husband answered and heard the raspy voice of the man who’d taken her son. An urge to cry out to him and beg him to release Danny was hard to contain, especially when the next voice she heard was Danny’s.

‘Dad, Mum, they said I have to tell you I’m okay, but–’ The kidnapper came back on the line.

‘Right, you’ve heard him. What happens to him now is up to you.’ The line went dead.

Martha shouted, ‘No!’ It was too late.

‘Was that your son, Mr Stone?’ Graham asked.

‘Yes, it was Danny.’ Richard moved to hold his wife but she pushed him away, her disappointment in him turning to anger.

Could this be the last time I’ll hear my son’s voice?

The kidnappers were expecting to receive three hundred thousand pounds early the following morning and Richard hadn’t been able to raise it. Martha’s mind conjured up some terrifying scenarios. Closing her eyes didn’t help, as visions of her only child, screaming, bleeding, dead, haunted her thoughts and she was powerless to do anything about it.

DI Radford’s voice interrupted her thoughts as he addressed Richard. ‘How are you getting on with raising the money, Mr Stone?’

Richard’s face reddened. ‘I – I’m going back to the bank this afternoon to collect whatever funds I can withdraw but it may be still a little short.’