He closed the door, weariness washing over him. He longed to crawl into bed and sleep for hours, days even, and wake up in his wife’s arms, knowing that she was well and happy, and that Sophie and her parents were safe and happy too. But his sister was dead. Guy was dead. He had no idea how much damage had been done to Sophie. And then there was Kate. A woman he no longer knew, full of secrets and dark thoughts.

He was on his way back to the lounge when he heard another car draw up. He glanced out of the side window and saw Fenner getting out of an Alfa Romeo. He didn’t think that mere inspectors of police were that well paid.

He opened the door before Fenner could ring the bell and invited him to come in. He refused a drink but accepted a chair close to the fire. Will wondered if it would make him melt at all.

‘I do have some news, Mr Stonebridge, although it’s of the “good news, bad news” variety. Firstly, your niece was not sexually assaulted.’ He paused, watching Will’s reaction closely.

Will found himself fighting back tears. ‘Thank God!’

‘She is unhurt — that is to say physically, other than being stiff and cold.’

‘How was she restrained?’

The inspector regarded Will with some interest. ‘Why do you ask?’

Will looked bewildered. ‘I wondered if he had hurt her. If she is like her mother — or me for that matter — she is a mouth breather. A gag could have caused her great distress.’

‘Another baffling element about this strange case, sir. You see, Mr Stonebridge, she wasn’t restrained.’

No one spoke. Matt took a sharp breath.

As Fenner was obviously not about to volunteer more, Sam finally broke the baffled silence. ‘I don’t understand. Do you mean she wasn’t kidnapped at all? She was just hiding there, not bound or fettered in any way?’

‘Until she tells us something, we don’t know. But we still believe she was taken by force and was held there without her consent.’

‘But how?’ Sam said.

‘Fear, Professor Page. We don’t know what he said to her, but he frightened the life out of her. She was so scared that she didn’t even cry out for help when the first search party checked the ground floor of the mill. Not even when the building was surrounded by police and I used the loud-hailer. Remember the last case Grove was involved in? The boy never spoke about what happened — well, not to tell the truth. Which brings me to the more negative news. So far, Sophie has not spoken a word. She will not, or cannot, communicate with our team or the doctors, including the specialist from Canada.’