‘We weren’t sure. That’s the honest truth. And to tell you he was your father rather than Geoff Nolan? That’s quite a deception to unravel when you don’t have to. If he was alive, he obviously didn’t want any of us to know. So, we … said nothing … and prayed none of the others had seen the advert … or, if they had, that they’d say nothing either. Marty didn’t live in London, of course, so we reckoned he wouldn’t have seen it. The same went for Vinod. That only left Miranda. And she was in the middle of running for Parliament at the time. We were confident she’d do nothing that drew attention to her connection with Peter.’

‘But you kept the advert?’

‘Caro insisted. She said the day might eventually come when you needed to be told about it. Instead, it looks like the day came when she decided Marty needed to be told. The advert gave the name and address of a woman in Japan who was offering a thousand pound reward for information identifying Peter Evans, who’d worked for her father in London in September 1977. I guess Marty took the hint. He wrote to her.’

‘And eventually got a reply. Suggesting they meet in London. Earlier this week. He was planning to meet me as well. To tell me what he’d unearthed about my father. But his contact with Mimori Takenaga seems to have attracted some hostile attention. Now Martin’s missing. And Takenaga might as well be missing, because I’ve no idea where she went from Exeter.’

‘It sounds like someone doesn’t want Marty or anyone else following up the Peter Evans connection.’

‘Peter himself, perhaps?’

‘It’s possible. There was always a hidden side to his nature. He never let you in on what he was really thinking. Unknowable is what he was. Which made him attractive on one level. And he had, well, I suppose you’d call it charisma. Caro couldn’t stop herself being fascinated by him, though she was over that by the time he … well, did or didn’t die. If he’s alive, then he must have deliberately turned his back on his old life and remade himself as someone else. Maybe he can’t afford to have his previous identity dragged into the light. I wouldn’t want to go up against Peter. I think he could be … ruthless … if he felt he needed to be.’

‘And dangerous?’

‘Who knows what forty years might have done to him? I knew Peter Ellery, Nicky. This other man he’s become – if he has become him – is an unknown quantity.’

‘But he’s my father.’

April leant her head against his shoulder. ‘Is that really so important?’

‘Maybe it shouldn’t be, but … it feels as if it is.’