‘Look,’ I said. ‘We’ll look out for your daughter, and if we see her we’ll say we saw you – get her to phone home, okay?’

He was so grateful he practically hugged me. ‘Bless you,’ he says, shoving a fiver in my unresisting hand. ‘Bless you both.’

He shambled off, clutching his snapshot and his useless hope. Gail and I watched him go, each pretending not to notice how close the other was to tears.

Daily Routine Orders 14

Fella rang my bell last night. 22.00 hours. I wasn’t worried. Provided you’ve got the situation under control there’s nothing to worry about. A swift recce through the curtain showed me a shortish chap of about forty-five. It was too dark for me to see his features, but something about the way he was standing told me he was agitated so I judged it best not to reveal my position. I never show a strong light after dusk. My table lamp has a sixty-watt bulb and from outside, with the curtains drawn, no illumination is visible. I know this because I’ve checked. Always check everything, that’s my golden rule. So I lay low and waited. He tried twice more, then left. I don’t know who he was or what he wanted, but instinct warns me he could be related to one of my recruits. I might be wrong, but my instincts are usually pretty sharp so I’ll exercise particular care over the next day or so.

By golly I will.

We’d probably have thought no more about it if it hadn’t been for Nick. I mean, Captain Hook might easily have been mistaken, and people move on all the time. I’d have forgotten Toya even quicker than I forgot Ginger if we hadn’t run into Nick that same afternoon, and who knows what might have happened then?

Nick’s the guy who sells the Big Issue on Camden Station, but we came across him under the bridge on the High Street. I’d just tapped a Yank for a quid when he came up to me. ‘I’m glad I saw you,’ he said. ‘Something funny’s just happened.’

‘Don’t tell me,’ I said. ‘The Prime Minister’s offered you a kip at Number Ten, right?’

‘No, listen. You know when you were looking for that mate of yours a while back?’

‘Ginger. Yeah?’

‘Well, I told you I saw him leave the station with an older guy, didn’t I?’

‘Yes.’ An older guy. Now where had I heard that recently?

‘Well, this morning an old gimmer comes up to me with a photo of his daughter, asking if I’ve seen her.’

I nodded. ‘We saw him too. What about it?’

‘This about it, my old mate. I did see her, a few days back, leaving the station with the same guy your mucker went off with.’