‘This is Carr’s office, along with the other DSs on the team. I think the others are both off out somewhere so we’ll camp in here for now. Carr was grabbing some stuff from the printer. Please, take a seat.’

Dani and Fletcher did so, and sure enough, a moment later Carr appeared in the doorway. Dani and Fletcher got to their feet and shook hands with the new arrival. Dani stared at Carr as they all took their seats. Carr was a few years younger than Dani and a similar height and build, though with long, straight red hair and a face that was dominated by freckles. There was an eagerness about her, in her expression and her mannerisms. She was basically the copper – keen and dedicated and destined for great things – that Dani used to be. That Dani still wanted to be.

‘DI Stephens briefly explained on the phone what you’re after,’ Gregory said, ‘but you’ll probably need to be a bit more specific if you want us to give you anything useful.’

Fletcher opened her mouth to speak, but Dani jumped in. ‘Initially all we need is a list of any missing persons cases from the last six months that involved a female, fifteen to thirty years old.’

Dani had deliberately set the parameters to ID her Jane Doe wider than strictly necessary, not wanting to miss anything by going narrow.

‘You’d be surprised how many hits that simple search gets,’ Gregory said.

‘How many?’

‘Hundreds. People go missing in all sorts of circumstances. Young, old, male, female. Something like two hundred thousand a year across the country.’

‘But most turn up soon after?’ Dani said. ‘We’re only interested in the ones still missing.’

‘Most do. If they’re not found within the first forty-eight to seventy-two hours, then the chances that they turn up alive diminishes significantly with every day that passes. Statistically speaking, at least. I’m sure you know all this, though.’ Dani and Fletcher both nodded. ‘Some turn up months or years later, but generally not. There’s often a story with the people who remain missing. Problems in their lives, whether it’s drugs or alcohol or work or relationships.’

‘Or they’ve been killed,’ Dani said.

Gregory just shrugged at that.

‘Here’s the list that matches your search,’ Carr said, passing two sheets of A4 to Dani. There weren’t hundreds, as Gregory had intimated, but there were still a lot more than Dani had expected. She stared at the list of names for a few moments. Next to each one was various bits of information including the date last seen, date of birth, an address, and a brief physical description. Dani honed in on four in particular, based on their ages and the dates they’d gone missing. One had disappeared just a few days ago.

‘And all these are missing without a trace?’ Dani asked.