‘Elliot’s in charge of making sure British Rail runs on time,’ Bish said. ‘Tells me every year that if I want to move on to something different he can fix it for me.’

‘Darling, you’ve been late all your life. What a catastrophe if the whole grid was in your hands.’

‘How did you come to bump into him last week?’

She looked confused. ‘I haven’t seen George for ten years. Since your father’s funeral.’

Bish stared at her. Elliot had claimed to know about Bee’s trip from Saffron. Before he could question her further, two men walked into the hall. Definitely Brits, and Bish would have bet his life they were MI6. Their eyes scanned the room until they found who they were looking for.

Violette. No surprises there.

The pair made their way between the bedrolls. The tension in the hall seemed to heighten.

His phone rang again. Another blocked number. Without thinking, Bish answered it.

‘I need you to listen to me, Ortley.’

‘How did you know where my daughter was, Elliot?’

‘Not important at the moment. You have to do everything in your power to make sure no one removes two of those kids from the campground. Then we want you to drive them back to London and we’ll take it from there.’

This sort of conversation with Elliot seemed ludicrous. Bish felt as if they were playacting in first form, back when they both wanted to be spies.

‘It would really make the Home Secretary happy.’

Elliot worked for the Home Office? Since when?

‘Are you there, Ortley? Can you commit these names to memory?’

Two pairs of legs standing before Violette obscured Bish’s view of her. Everyone else in the hall was looking either at the men or at Bish, as if they expected him to do something. Violette was one of a handful of students who had no parent or guardian sitting beside them. One chaperone had locked her in a cupboard, another was lying in the foetal position in a corner, and the third was dead. Someone had to be responsible for her.

‘Violette Zidane and Eddie Conlon,’ Bish said, knowing exactly which two names Elliot would give him.

Bish heard a sigh and then Elliot was speaking to someone, his voice muffled.

One of the men beckoned Violette with a hand gesture. The utter silence of it all was chilling. And then a slight movement from Violette. Her head leaning to the left of the legs so she could make eye contact with Bish. There was no call for help. No accusation. But the action called for an answer to a question. Are you just going to sit there?

Bish hung up and got to his feet. He walked across the room, feeling every pair of eyes on him. ‘Problem here?’ he asked the two men.

The taller of them held up a hand and pointed to where Bish had come from. A wordless order to sit back down.

‘We’ll be speaking to everyone soon enough,’ the man said without looking at him. ‘So let’s wait our turn.’