‘I must apologise again. I was off yesterday, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to express my grave apologies. It’s not like Josie to go missing.’

That speared like a harpoon. ‘No,’ was all he could muster in reply.

‘You can’t turn your back for a second at that age, can you? I always—’

He blurted that he had to go, sorry, and hung up. He didn’t realise he’d been crying until a tear dripped off his chin and splashed on to the screen of his phone.

As he turned to leave Josie’s room, he saw Anna’s father just beyond the doorway, leaning sideways so he could peer inside. He said nothing and vanished. When Nick left the room, Middleton was at the kitchen sink, filling the kettle, his back to Nick. Nick quietly got out of there.

9.03 a.m.

Testing a theory, Jane collared DS Bennet alone at the dining table. She sat by him and put Anna’s photo album and two mugs of tea on the table.

‘Retinal cancer at twenty-nine months, just in case you’re dying to ask,’ she said.

‘I wasn’t,’ Bennet said after a careful, detective-like pause.

‘Oh, didn’t give a hoot, eh?’

‘I didn’t want to intrude,’ he said quickly.

Jane laughed. ‘Just yanking your chain. I can’t see these photos. Find me one of Josie about three years old.’

He took a sip of tea. She could sense his unease, but she heard him slide his laptop aside and pull the photo album closer. Heard pages turn. ‘Here.’

She traced her fingers over it. ‘I wish someone could make a Braille version. Yes, by the way, people do treat me like I’m inferior.’

Now he laughed. ‘But you make up for it with mind-reading abilities.’

‘I get that sort of thing, too. Do I have superhuman hearing? Do I dream with pictures? And on a Saturday night, do I correctly imagine what a man’s penis looks like?’

‘And I bet you’ve got a bunch of one-liners prepared for all that.’

‘The other day I was with my friend at a greasy spoon and the fellow behind the counter asked my friend what I wanted to order. That annoyed me off so much I put my hand on his chest and then told him he needed to get to a doctor quickly.’

It took a couple of seconds for Bennet to understand. ‘Oh, like he thought you had a special power to sense illness. Got you.’

‘The man tried to give me burnt toast, too. It’s only the first bite that’s with the eye.’ She tapped the photo album. ‘So, describe this picture for me.’

‘Erm. Well, Josie is about two, I think. She’s on one of those rides at a supermarket. A fire engine. The ones you put a pound in.’