‘You need to arrive exactly at six,’ DI Radford instructed Richard. ‘Park outside the pub as they told you and then wait. Don’t get out of the car until someone approaches you and then be extremely careful. They’ll most likely be watching you arrive and will wait to see if you’re being followed, so you must be patient. Our men are in position at every exit from the village, hidden from sight.’

‘What if they don’t have Danny?’ Richard asked.

‘Try to remain calm and tell them you want to see Danny before giving them the money. In reality, this probably isn’t going to work. They’ll want to count the money, or at least look at it before they hand your son over, or tell you where to find him. I’m afraid they hold all the cards. We have no alternative but to go along with whatever they tell us.’

‘But they could take the money and not release Danny!’ Martha interrupted.

‘That’s always been a possibility, yet a slim one. They’re not going to keep him any longer than necessary – Danny’s a burden to them – so once they have the money they’ll want him out of the way. And, as we’ve said before, these people are amateurs, not killers, and statistics show that the victim is released unharmed in most kidnappings. So the possibilities are, they’ll have him with them in their vehicle and will let him out before they drive off, or they’ll tell you where he is, which will probably be somewhere not too far away.’

‘And will you follow them?’ Richard asked.

‘Yes, but only if it’s safe to do so and my officers can remain unseen. As the kidnappers enter the village, they’ll be photographed from various points and the vehicle registration will be put through the system, although we would expect it to be a stolen one. Keep your mobile open at all times, like we discussed, so we can be in touch throughout the whole operation,’ Alex Radford instructed.

It was 5am, too soon for Richard to set off. The early morning traffic would be light and he would be heading north, out of the city, well before the roads clogged up with commuters. The detectives discussed other aspects of the investigation. Martha wondered if they were trying to prepare them for the possibility of things going wrong – for Danny not being returned to them later in the day. An awful thought occurred to Martha – the police could be planning to change the investigation from a kidnapping to a murder. She silently took the empty coffee cups to the sink, still listening to the conversation.

‘We spoke to Jamie Madley, your clerk at chambers. He was obliging in supplying names of recent clients who lost their cases, and those you’ve prosecuted. We’d like to go through some of them with you...’