Lowth pointed at the pocket holding the cordless. ‘We’ll do that, don’t worry. Have you tried calling their mobiles?’

The big man, Adams, stepped past her and peeked into the bathroom.

Anna said, ‘Nick’s got a mobile. It’s just a dead line. But they wouldn’t have gone out.’

‘We’ll try to find them, Mrs Carter. You should try to calm down. Are you certain your husband took his mobile with him?’

Anna watched Adams step up to the main bedroom and cast his appraising eyes inside.

‘It’s not in the house. I would have heard it ringing.’

‘I’ll need the number,’ Lowth said.

Anna recited Nick’s number, and the officer dialled on her mobile.

‘So what did you say woke you?’

‘The baby monitor in Josie’s room. The window was open. The rain.’

‘Okay,’ Lowth said after a pause. ‘And I’ve got to ask. Drugs, alcohol? Have you had any this evening?’

Anna looked like she’d been physically struck. ‘Do you think I imagined this or something?’

‘I didn’t say that, Mrs Carter. I ask because—’

‘No,’ she snapped. ‘Nothing like that. I can’t believe…’

Lowth nodded. ‘Okay. Please be calm. I had to ask. Have you called friends and family, just in case they—’

‘They wouldn’t go out. But I did, I called a couple.’

‘Just a couple?’

‘Well… nobody is up at this time. They would have called me if they knew. But Nick wouldn’t have taken Josie out, not at this time of night.’

‘No connection on his mobile.’ Lowth hung up her mobile. ‘What about your mobile, Mrs Carter? Where’s that?’

Anna felt in her dressing gown pocket but found only the cordless. Had she put the mobile in her pocket? ‘I don’t know. I thought I picked it up. Am I allowed to go out and search for them?’

Lowth’s answer: ‘It’s best if you stay here, Mrs Carter, in case they come back. As for friends and family, if you could get me their numbers and addresses, we can check with them. Double-check, I mean. Can we see the living room?’

Anna led quickly. Once there, she pointed at the patio door. ‘That was wide open. Are others on their way?’

The big male, Adams, stepped across to peek into the dining area beyond the shelving unit room divider. Lowth pointed at the muddy footprints on the carpet. ‘You’re certain you didn’t make these when you went outside?’

‘No, I didn’t. They were already there. The step outside, there’s…’ the word was hard to eject ‘…blood.’

Avoiding the wet areas of carpet, especially the sodden section just inside the doorway, Adams slipped on protective latex gloves and dragged open the patio door and splashed torchlight into the dark. Lowth nodded at the sleeping bag on the sofa.