‘That’s a very quick answer,’ Gillard said suspiciously.

‘I was quite surprised myself. The bus company uploads its CCTV in real time to the cloud, and they were able to give me a password. Works like a dream.’

‘George Orwell would be turning in his grave.’

‘What, sir?’

‘Never mind.’

‘I take it our Mr Bloggs was a discharged prisoner from either HMP Grendon or HMP Spring Hill?’

Gillard tried to iron the surprise out of his face at this uncharacteristic intuitive leap. ‘What makes you say that, Carl?’

‘Stands to reason, sir. The prisons are the only things of any significance in the village. No one but a discharged prisoner or a car-less pensioner would be forced to take such a slow and obscure journey by rural bus.’

Gillard nodded. ‘That’s pretty good deductive reasoning.’

‘So is this bloke Neville Rollason, then?’

Now the DCI was truly alarmed. ‘No,’ he said hurriedly. ‘He’s just an annoying fraudster.’

‘Whose name you don’t want me to have. Okay. It’s just that Rollason got released today with a new identity. And this bloke looks a bit like him.’ Hoskins looked up at his boss. ‘So I’m wrong then, am I?’

‘You’ve certainly turned speculation into a fine art,’ Gillard said, and walked away, aware that he hadn’t answered the question. He strode into his office, shut the door and rang DI Morgan.

‘Rigby has asked me to give you a hand, looking for our missing person,’ he said.

Morgan sighed heavily. ‘I’m sure he’s just playing silly buggers.’

‘Let’s hope so, but I think we had better assume the worst for the time being. From what I’ve heard, the probation officer thought that Rollason had been to his new house. Is that correct?’

‘Yes. She found a coffee stirrer that was still wet, and some dregs in the sink.’

‘Hmm. Is she sure it wasn’t the landlord?’

‘No, she can’t be.’

‘Did she check to see whether there was any luggage? Did she go upstairs? Has someone been there to check?’

If there is a sound to scratching your head, DI Morgan was making it. ‘The answer to all those questions is no, I imagine.’

‘If it was him, he didn’t get there by bus. The onboard CCTV proves it.’

This was news to Morgan. ‘So you’re saying somebody else gave him a lift?’

‘I’m not saying anything. I just don’t think we know enough about his movements once he’d left Spring Hill. However, in the meantime I would strongly suggest you check the Wexford Road house in person to see if he has been there.’