Then he told the story again, this time in considerably more detail.

‘It was a few weeks after I got back from a trip abroad. My first for several years – it’s difficult for me to take time off. Anyway, that’s just background really. The fact that I’d been away for a while. I went over to my brother’s house, and I knew straight away that something wasn’t right. The place was kind of untidy – as if the family was at home. A bike lying on the drive, a window left ajar. You don’t leave a house like that if you’re going to be away for a year.’

Too many words, too much stress in his voice. Alex was in the middle of another case; he didn’t have time to wonder what had become of Noah’s brother. As if from a distance he heard Noah talking much too fast about the many failings of the police, and about one officer in particular who couldn’t even work out what time it was in Sydney. He also mentioned hidden messages from his brother in the form of a house key and a swear word.

‘You need to calm down,’ Alex said eventually. ‘You say your brother’s missing, that the house was a mess. The family were planning an extended trip to Australia, but you don’t think that’s where they’ve gone. So were they leaving their house empty?’

Noah’s voice almost broke.

‘As I understood it, yes. They did consider renting it out but Malin, my sister-in-law, didn’t like the idea.’

‘So maybe they left it in a bit of a state to give the impression that they wouldn’t be gone for too long? To keep the burglars away?’ Alex suggested.

‘No. I see your point, but this is different.’

‘And the police believe they left of their own free will?’ Alex said quietly. It was very clear that he should never have made this call.

‘Exactly, and they’re wrong. Totally fucking wrong. Excuse my language, but I don’t understand how the police can get away with this. The summer will soon be over, and it’s clear to me that someone is guilty of gross negligence at the very least. What if Dan and his family are dead?’

Noah began to cry, and Alex wanted more than anything to put down the phone. And yet . . . He remembered the funeral director as a composed and competent person. A man in control of himself and life. There was no doubt that something had changed since then – but what? And why was it Alex’s job to look into whatever it might be?

It’s not my job. It’s not my job.

‘The officers you’ve been dealing with must have explained why they think your brother has chosen to stay away,’ he said in a kinder tone.