Sasha didn’t much like the sound of having Michelle Dormand in the room; she’d be a distraction they could do without. But Alan Manning wanted Michelle there, he was already a nervous wreck, and she didn’t want to undermine him any further.

She walked Lolly to the door and whispered, ‘Put her by the wall, so that she’s not too conspicuous.’

Lolly gave a thumbs-up to the Mannings – ‘Good luck!’ – and left.

‘We can do this,’ Alan said, but Jessica was clearly irritated, and Sasha hoped the tension between them wasn’t obvious in front of the media.

Camera flashes popped, shutters whirred and phones and tablets were held aloft, as soon as they walked next door. Sasha led the Mannings to their seats behind a table on a raised platform at the front of the room, the giant Essex Police insignia emblazoned on the wall behind them.

The room was packed with reporters and journalists. Broadcast cameras on tripods stood like sentinels at the back of the room.

To her credit, Michelle didn’t make any attempt to draw attention to herself. She sat very still at the end of one row, bag crushed in her lap, never taking her eyes off Alan and Jessica. But it didn’t take long for some of the veteran journalists to recognize her, and news of her presence flew around the room. Reporters whispered among themselves; the atmosphere in the room was electric.

‘Thanks for coming. I’m Detective Inspector Sasha Dawson.’

Sasha made a short statement about Sammi’s disappearance and then introduced the Mannings.

‘What can you tell us about the van you discovered with the item of Sammi’s clothing in it?’ called one reporter.

‘We’ll be taking questions later,’ said Sasha. ‘But I’ll answer this one now. The vehicle was stolen two days ago from outside an address on Canvey Island and we’re currently carrying out forensic tests on it. As soon as we have more information we’ll get it to you.’ Sasha turned to Alan. ‘But now Mr Manning would like to make a direct appeal to Sammi.’

He picked up the written statement with a trembling hand.

‘Sammi, if you’re watching this somewhere, your mum and I ask you to come home.’ Alan spoke in a monotone and Sasha felt the press grow restless. ‘If you’ve… if you’ve run away…’