Nabi gave a little laugh and turned to walk away. Middleton did the same, not a word to Nick, and Nick watched him return to the kitchen table and sit. He could hardly believe what had just happened. He wanted to say thank you, but didn’t get the chance.

Because the landline rang.

Miller yelled for Nick, who turned so fast into the living room that he bounced painfully off the doorframe. She was standing by the phone, waving him over. She looked haggard, as if stress or lack of sleep was catching up to her. Everyone was watching him.

‘Be careful how you answer,’ she said as he approached, eyes glued to the phone plugged into a laptop, ‘in case it’s a neighbour or a reporter, and don’t—’

He barely heard: he snatched up the phone and said, ‘Anna?’

On speakerphone, they all heard a mechanical voice:

‘You have received a text message from 07…’

Anna’s number. A message from Anna, delivered by a computer that had no idea of the impact it was about to land.

Hi, babe, it’s Anna. You’re not her real dad. Sorry about the trick to get our going-away money. Hope YOU have got good pictures of her in your head. XXX.

Ten

‘Donna, it’s Nick. Is Anna there or have you seen her today? She went out and didn’t leave a note.’

‘Maybe she finally got sick of you and left, Nick. My John told you, you would end up driving her away. Can’t say I blame her. Or she’s gone out and just doesn’t want you to know where she is. Anyway, no, I haven’t seen her.’

Five calls to Anna’s friends, and nobody had heard from her today. One hadn’t been home and he’d left a message, but the other four had all had the same theme: Anna had probably finally left him. These were the same people Anna had frantically called late in the night about Nick and Josie’s disappearance, but follow-up contact by the police appeared to have allayed any worry. None knew about the kidnap and they’d eaten up his lie about Anna going out without leaving a note.

That got him thinking. People drifting apart did that, didn’t they? Went places without informing each other. Her friends clearly weren’t on his side and if Anna had visited one, well, that wasn’t his business, was it? Especially if she’d gone for a heart-to-heart about the unfairness of life. So why would anyone tell him where Anna was even if they knew? He gave serious consideration to a series of house visits, just to make sure nobody was hiding her.