‘Stop the car. I want out.’

‘We can’t. We have—’

‘No, I’m not under arrest, am I? You didn’t say you were arresting me. I want to get out.’

Miller stared at her. ‘You’re coming with us voluntarily. At the station, yes, we’ll have to—’

Anna stared back. ‘Don’t treat me differently just because my daughter is missing. Stop being so damn nice to me. I killed two people—’

‘Anna, you—’

‘No, Nick, keep out of this. I don’t want their sympathy or their help. I want what I deserve. I want to tell my story and then get the punishment I deserve. So I want them to do their damn jobs. Right now.’

Miller turned in her seat. Anna couldn’t read anything in that expression, not relief or regret or anger or sorrow, when the detective said, ‘Anna Carter, I’m arresting you on suspicion of…’

At four driver location markers on the M1, four things happened.

M1/A/11.9

Eleven point nine miles away from Charing Cross. The warmth of Nick’s embrace made her sleepy, and she welcomed it. There would be a lot of sleep in the future. Oblivion allowed her to forget, although she didn’t doubt this gruesome day would haunt her dreams. But there was something important to do. Something she’d forgotten about due to recent events, including telling her story to the detectives as the car cruised away from the capital. The fact of her forgetfulness caused a stab in her heart.

‘I want to phone Jane. I didn’t tell her. God, she has no idea.’

Bennet, driving, handed his phone over his shoulder.

She had to compose herself before making the call, and rightly so. As expected, Jane was very upset.

‘Anna, where are you? Where have you been? We’ve been worried. You vanished, and Nick went off in Father’s car. The police didn’t know anything, or wouldn’t tell us anything.’

‘I’m sorry, Jane, really, but there was something I had to do. But it… I failed. I didn’t get Josie. I was found by two of the kidnappers, but they don’t know where she is. I lost Josie. I’m sorry.’

‘God, don’t apologise. I’m so sorry for you. What’s happened?’

The explanation pushed Jane’s distress into the stratosphere. The last portion of a long monologue was: ‘The police are keeping the arrests secret, so it doesn’t make the people who have Josie worried. But I don’t know how long that can last until they find out, and then God knows what they’ll do. I can’t deal with this.’

She heard her father in the background, then closer, and a noise as he ripped the phone from his blind daughter’s hand.

‘Anna? Where are you? Good Lord, what’s going on? Are you there? Can you hear me?’