‘The fen. It will only take a few minutes more and I’m really not in the mood to have a microphone thrust in my face.’

The two men struck out across the damp ground until they came to a well-worn path on their left. After five minutes or so, the shape of the fallen rowan tree could be seen in the back garden of Holland House, and in no time at all they were joining a milling throng of searchers all complaining about the dark. Matt and Will made their way through the sea of Gore-Tex jackets to where the sergeant was scribbling furiously in his notebook.

‘Any news, Sarge?’ called out Will.

The man snapped his book shut. ‘Ah, Will! Yes. Liz was just about to phone you. A few minutes ago, we had another sighting, and it corroborates the little lass’s story. A farmer was ploughing one of his fields when he saw a girl in a blue-and-white baseball jacket on the bridle-path leading to the fen road. That’s about half a mile from where the youngster saw her. He didn’t think too much of seeing her alone as he thought she had a dog with her. He now thinks it might have been one of the farm dogs. The timing is right, and we are now quite certain that she was heading here. She just never arrived, poor kid.’

‘So, you are concentrating your search to this vicinity?’ asked Matt.

‘This is the most significant sighting, but naturally we’re still trying to cover every avenue. The super isn’t keen in putting all our eggs in one basket.’

Matt felt confused. ‘But how could she have found her way here? There are so many footpaths and bridle paths. I was born here, and I can’t remember all of them. Surely a child who is new to this terrain wouldn’t have the slightest clue about where she was going?’

The policeman nodded. ‘We’ve considered that point, Matt. We sent one of the officers brought in from the Humberside area, to see if she could find her way to Whisper Fen, just using signposts and asking directions. She had never set foot on the marsh before. She reckoned the child could have done it without even asking for help. All the fen walks and footpaths are really well signposted, and there is a big map of the surrounding area in the foyer of the hotel. Would you say Sophie was a bright girl, Will? Capable of reading a map?’

‘Is a bright girl, Sergeant,’ Will said sharply.

‘Sorry. I wasn’t implying anything.’

Matt threw Will a warning glance.