It was Tessa Payne at the other end. ‘Lucy … glad I caught you. I’ve been trying your mobile, but—’

‘Don’t worry, it’s kaput,’ Lucy said.

‘Well … at least it’s not you, eh?’ Once again, the trainee detective sounded breathless and excited. Doubtless, this fast-moving enquiry, with its potential enormous pay-off, was just the sort of thing she’d joined CID to get involved in. Evidently, she hadn’t yet learned that Lucy was persona non grata.

‘I suppose I agree with that,’ Lucy replied, too emotionally exhausted even to make it sound like the sarcasm she’d intended. ‘Sorry, Tessa. Yeah … least I’m alive.’

‘I’m so sorry … I mean, sorry you had to go through all that alone.’

‘Two of us being nabbed wouldn’t have improved things, Tess. Thanks for the thought, though. How’s it going?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The search for the Torgau girls.’

‘Oh … well, the house is getting turned over. Their escape route led through an old sewer and came up again in a derelict garage about three streets away. We’ve located a lock-up near the town centre too. Think that’s where they were keeping the van. There’s a respraying kit in there, goggles, paint-stained overalls, a load of fake registration plates and spare clothes. The van’s not there though, obviously.’

‘No indication where they might have taken it?’ Lucy asked.

‘Not yet. But I heard some of the Serious crowd talking. They don’t reckon they’ll get very far. I mean, they can travel as far as the petrol takes them, obviously, but we’ve put an all-points out, so it won’t be easy getting a refill. On top of that, what are they going to do in the middle of the night? Park in a layby and sleep? Maybe one night, maybe two, but that can’t go on indefinitely, can it? Even if they change vehicles, that situation won’t improve.’

‘Unless they’ve got somewhere else to lay low,’ Lucy said. ‘Somewhere more secure.’

Payne thought about that. ‘You mean if they’ve got more accomplices?’

‘It’s hardly going to be the Crew. But the Torgau girls are bound to know other folk. They’ve not been living like nuns … hang on, whoa!’

‘What’s up?’ Payne asked.

‘Nuns,’ Lucy said, mainly to herself.

‘What do you mean, “nuns”?’ Payne wondered. ‘You said something about that before.’

‘Nothing, it’s all right.’ A compelling new thought had just occurred to Lucy, and it was already taking a deep, fast root. ‘Just let me know if you hear anything, yeah?’

‘Aren’t you off sick?’

‘Yeah, but this was my case, I want to know how it pans out.’

But Payne now sounded intrigued. ‘What did you mean, “nuns”?’

‘Tessa, I’ve got to go. Stick with the footage.’

Lucy cut the call and stood thinking.

Nuns …