‘We will have to be quiet,’ he said. ‘But I’ve got some spare headphones, and a two-into-one audio jack that I bought for £3.75. Half price.’

‘Okay, Gary,’ she whispered, and held out her wrists in front of her. He tied her up loosely with the baler twine. Previously her wrists had been tied behind her back, which was much more difficult to deal with. She was confident that with three or four minutes unobserved she could be free of her last remaining bonds. She was already much freer. No gag, no blindfold, nothing around her ankles.

Gary led her into the house, through the lounge and into his den, which was piled high with computer equipment, cables, modems and all sorts of things she didn’t recognise. The carpet was filthy. Obviously no one had vacuumed for months. He picked up a couple of long cables and some big over-ear headphones, and spent a few minutes connecting the laptop to the big TV in the lounge. Five minutes later they were sitting side by side on the grubby sofa watching videos of otters. Her captor had stopped his throstling and appeared to be quite relaxed. He was so focused on the animal images that Leticia was able to work away, rotating her wrists and loosening the knots.

In half an hour the first long video, about otters in Scotland, ended. Gary turned to the laptop beside him to select the next. Leticia knew that he wouldn’t hear much with the headphones still on. This was her big moment. She slid one wrist from the twine, then the other, but held it loosely over her hands. Then she slipped off the headphones and eased her weight gradually off the low settee. He was still busy at the laptop.

Leticia stood and then ran. The front door was just a few short strides away. She got there just as Gary looked up.

Gary bellowed his anguish and levered himself clumsily from the sofa. The security chain on the door was on, and Leticia fumbled trying to remove it. What she hadn’t counted on was that it was locked too and she couldn’t see the key. She had no time to look for it, so had to retrace a couple of steps to go for the side entrance into the garden. She ducked through with a second to spare as Gary’s huge arm reached out for her. Seen properly for the first time, the garden was not an easy escape prospect. A large unkempt leylandii hedge fifteen feet high ran around three-quarters of it, where it abutted neighbouring properties. The lowest point was where a pair of five-foot-high wooden gates barred the driveway from the street beyond. They were padlocked.