‘Yes, well, I’ll leave you now.’ Gessen gave Vidor a quizzical look before hurrying away. He paused once to glance back, but Vidor hadn’t moved from his spot by the fountain. He checked his watch. Half past nine, and as the minutes ticked past, with still no word, he began to feel truly ill. The knot in his stomach tightened, and his skin felt feverish. In the privacy of his chalet, he flicked on the lights and sloshed brandy into a glass.

Normally, he waited until the weekend to indulge, preferring to keep his mind sharp, but he was sorely in need of fortification. The brandy burned his throat, but in a moment worked its magic, blunting his jangled nerves. He filled the glass again and carried it to the window. A flash of light in the mountains, followed by another, meant the search was still on. His body tensed as he waited for the phone to ring. Sipping his drink slowly, he counselled himself to breathe. When the call came in, he would need a clear head.

Fernanda, perhaps sensing his distress, rose from her bed in a corner of the kitchen and nosed around his feet. He absently stroked her head and gave her a biscuit before unfolding a detailed map of the grounds. A second printout contained a summary of the patients’ movements in the past twenty-four hours. The scattering of coloured dots, accompanied by a time stamp, corresponded to each of the patients. In a single glance it was possible to follow Ismail’s movements from the time he woke up to the moment he’d disappeared. Gessen picked up a pencil and attempted to connect the dots, as if it were a puzzle meant to be solved.

At seven that morning, Ismail was in his chalet, and at ten minutes past eight, in the dining hall for breakfast. He spent nearly an hour in the meditation hall, followed by a visit to the Zen garden, then back to his room. His last known location was a few minutes before two in the afternoon, where he’d been tracked close to the edge of the property, and near a copse of fir and spruce. A single wooden bench on a clear patch of land afforded a magnificent view to the west. A lovely place to take in the sunset, if one was so inclined.

That was the last dot. Then… nothing. As if he’d vanished into the air.