A spell alone after McNab had left the interview room had apparently persuaded Willis that he didn’t have much to lose, but a lot to gain, if he did what was asked of him.

Janice still didn’t look convinced. ‘If we hadn’t already misplaced our key witness . . .’

McNab didn’t want to discuss it any more. The need to do something was, he accepted, too strong to simply wait and hope they might get a lead on the whereabouts of the two women.

‘I’m going to talk to Ollie about the memory stick Ava gave us,’ he told her. ‘Can you find out what happened about the Combat offices? The Met were supposed to be checking them. I’m particularly interested in any footage from the entry door camera. I know I’ll be on it, but I still don’t know if Cleverly went into the sex shop the first time I was taken or whether he was heading into the Combat offices, where I’m pretty sure my abductors came from.’

In an attempt at normality, McNab went to the cafe first and bought two coffees and two cakes. If Ollie had forsaken the doughnuts again, he would just eat them both himself. He definitely required a sugar rush along with the top-up of caffeine.

He tried to remember when he’d last sat down to eat properly, and couldn’t. That thought reminded him that no decision had yet been made on the elusive dinner party, which meant he hadn’t contacted Ellie again since he’d got back from London.

Calling her before a date was settled on felt odd. At least that’s what he’d told himself. After all, they were no longer officially a couple. That thought reminded him of the existence of Baldy in their story. He’d told Ellie he was a stalker, which wasn’t actually true, although he was on the system for something along those lines. Baldy’s claim to fame had been for cyber flashing. Sending dick pics via AirDrop to unsuspecting nearby females, usually when on public transport.

Maybe I should have told her the truth, McNab thought. Maybe I still will, he decided as he entered the IT suite in fighting mode.

For a brief moment he thought it must be over between Ollie and the lovely Maria due to the alacrity of Ollie’s acceptance of the paper bag.

‘Maria says if you bring me something, then that’s okay. I think she’s a fan,’ Ollie told him. ‘Anyway, I need the energy.’

‘You and me both,’ McNab said, helping himself. ‘So what do we have?’ he asked, catching a scent of Ollie’s excitement.

‘The two memory sticks hold essentially the same material, but not quite. As you are probably aware, most of the sites Mark gave a link to have been shut down already. Checking on dates, this started happening from the night he disappeared.’