Tessa pursed her lips. ‘I don’t know if it’ll work, but it could be worth a try.’

‘Let’s hear it,’ he said. ‘Who do you know?’

‘A guy called Rob,’ Tessa said. ‘He’s a friend of Andy’s. A retired cop. He fitted our burglar alarm system before we got divorced. Andy said he does other private detective type work. We could call him. Get a bit of advice, at least.’

Matt looked at Annabelle. He could see she was not convinced.

‘What are you thinking?’ he said.

‘I’m thinking he may tell the police.’ She shook her head. ‘That can’t happen.’

‘I don’t think he will,’ Tessa said. ‘He has no reason to, and we can ask him to keep quiet before we tell him anything. He might have an idea, Annabelle. We should try. And I don’t see any other options.’

‘I think she’s right,’ Matt said. ‘We could at least talk to him. But it’s up to you, Annabelle.’

‘OK,’ she said. ‘We can talk to him.’

Tessa laid her phone on the arm of the sofa and put it on speakerphone. A man’s voice answered.

‘Hi, Rob,’ she said. ‘Sorry for the early call. This is Tessa Westbrook, Andy’s wife. Ex-wife, actually. You fitted our alarm system.’

‘No problem.’ His voice was clear on the speaker. ‘I’m an early riser. Is there something wrong with it?’

‘It’s not the alarm. It’s something else. Something a bit unusual. Before we go any further, I have to ask you if you can promise not to tell anyone what we’re about to discuss. Especially the police.’

‘Look,’ he said. ‘If you’ve done something wrong and you tell me, I can’t promise—’

‘No one’s done anything wrong. It’s not that. It’s’ – she looked at Annabelle, who nodded her agreement – ‘it’s a friend. We need advice on what to do if someone’s been kidnapped.’

‘Kidnapped?’ he said, his voice suddenly urgent and alert. ‘Has someone been kidnapped?’

‘Yes,’ Tessa said. ‘And we need to know what to do.’

‘Jesus,’ he said. ‘Who is it?’

‘I’ll put the parents on. You’re on speaker.’

Matt leaned towards the phone. ‘Hi, Rob. My name’s Matt Westbrook. I’m Tessa’s brother. My wife, Annabelle, is here, as well as my brother-in-law, Mike.’

‘Nice to meet you all. Why don’t you tell me what happened?’

‘It’s my kids. I have three – Norman, Keith and Molly. I left them in the car while I went into a shop – Holt’s in Stockton Heath – and when I came out’ – he paused, and swallowed – ‘they were gone. The car as well.’

‘Holy shit,’ Rob said. ‘You sure it wasn’t just someone stealing the car?’

‘No. I got a text message a few minutes later. It said “Do not call the police”.’