‘We do know who you are. We found a match on our database of historic cases.’ She pauses. ‘You’re Anna Roberts. You were abducted as a four-year-old. I’m so sorry.’

My heart starts beating faster. ‘Abducted? When I was four?’ I shake my head. ‘No, I don’t think so. You must’ve got it wrong. I remember my dad perfectly. I can picture him. From recently, I mean. Not from when I was four.’

Ellie tries to take my hand. I snatch it away. ‘I understand this is difficult to hear, but samples were taken from Anna’s home when she went missing, more than a decade ago. Yours match hers.’

‘But my dad …’ I trail off.

‘We have been in touch with your mother, your birth mother, Karen, who can’t wait to be reunited with you,’ Ellie continues. ‘As for the man who you called your dad, the man found where you were living … we don’t know exactly who he was yet. We are trying to work that out, but …’

I shake my head. What are they talking about? This is all too much to take in and simply doesn’t make any sense. ‘I’m sorry, I still don’t understand.’

‘The man who you lived with wasn’t your real father,’ Ellie reiterates.

My breath catches in my throat. ‘That’s not possible,’ I insist.

She pauses. ‘There were numerous DNA samples taken from your personal items when you were abducted as a four-year-old and – well, there’s really no doubt that you are Anna Roberts. And as I said, the blood taken from the body we found in the house where you seemed to be living indicates that he couldn’t be a close biological relative of yours. It’s not possible because of your respective blood groups.’

I shake my head. ‘There must be a mistake. You need to check again.’

This time she ignores my objection. ‘The doctors say you appear to be well nourished and your injuries are new and likely to have been caused by being hit by a car so …’ Ellie trails off. ‘At the moment we have no way of knowing if you were abducted by the man you were living with, or came to him at a later date, or indeed why you were with him at all. Unless there’s anything you …’

‘He was never anything but a great dad to me.’ Or at least, as far as I remember. Was he a good dad? I’m pretty sure he was. When I think of him, all I can remember is feeling loved.