‘No one knows. I’ve filed two missing persons reports but if they don’t want to be found because they’re at some party or just avoiding being questioned, then it’ll make our job a nightmare,’ Kate said.

Teenage girls went missing all the time, and often they turned up having got on a train to the other end of the country ‘to think’ or take time out, or whatever they needed to do to off gas. It was common. But in this case, they were potential witnesses to an event that might be important to a criminal investigation, and so not only were they vulnerable because of their ages, they were also potentially in danger.

‘What are the parents doing?’ Kelly asked.

‘Both mums are on their own, with other kids to look after.’

‘No clues as to where they might be?’

‘No. They gave the impression that both girls run their own lives, pretty much,’ Kate said.

‘God, that’s just fucking wrong,’ Kelly said.

‘I guess it’s just easier that way,’ Kate said.

‘Phones?’

‘Yep, we’ve got their mobile numbers and the technical team are trying to trace them, as well as keeping a close eye on social media activity, of which there has been none on either of the girls’ accounts since yesterday afternoon.’

‘Do we know where that was from?’

‘A park in Keswick.’

‘Okay, at least they could still be close by. With the snow last night and the cancelled trains, they can’t have got far. I’ll send a squad car to the school to see if we can get any clues as to where the girls hang out,’ Kelly said.

Her next call was to her father. The heating inside the car had relaxed her shoulder muscles and she’d taken painkillers from her handbag for the classic flu symptoms. Light snowflakes began falling again and the outside temperature gauge read minus three degrees.

‘Good news; the pilots’ toxicology came back and there were no traces of alcohol or drugs in their systems,’ he told her. ‘However, the same can’t be said for Mr Kennedy-Craig. His plasma cocaine levels were sky high, and that tells me he was a regular user. He was also intoxicated with ethanol, and so he must have had a pretty heavy night.’

‘Then there was the brandy on the fight,’ she said. She reckoned she could do with a nip of the strong stuff to ease her congestion right now.

‘But he wasn’t flying the thing so he hasn’t broken the law – if you discount the cocaine, of course,’ he said.

‘Thanks, Dad. Where are you?’ she asked.

‘I stayed in a bed and breakfast near the hospital last night,’ he said. ‘The breakfast was fabulous, though now I’ve got indigestion. Did you make it home?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, Johnny cooked a gorgeous meal and…’ Too late.

‘Johnny? That’s nice.’