She’d arranged that her call from an unknown number would stop after a couple of rings. When she rang again shortly after, he would know it was her.

She imagined him sitting in the kitchen, Finn at his side, waiting to answer. When he finally did, she could hear the catch of relief in his voice.

‘You got there?’ he said.

‘Safe and sound,’ she told him, trying to sound normal. ‘I slept a lot of the way. So did Nadia. She’s upstairs now with the family. There’s laughter and chat and an excellent smell wafting down.’ She hesitated before asking if Erling had been.

He told her yes. ‘He brought Magnus Pirie with him.’

So, she’d been right about that, suggesting McNab hadn’t completely bought her story regarding the shopping trip.

‘How did it go?’ she said.

‘I played fearful and angry,’ he told her in a worried tone. ‘I think. I hoped it worked.’

Magnus would have smelt fear, or the lack of it, but Ava didn’t mention that because she could hear the worry in Dougie’s voice, even now, when he knew they were safe.

For the moment.

They chatted briefly about farm matters before she confirmed she’d call again with any developments.

At this point, Firash popped his head round the door. ‘We’re ready to eat. It’s all set up in the cafe. Afterwards we can talk with my father.’

‘Is there any news from the hospital?’ she said.

‘He will see me tomorrow.’

Ava allowed herself a small sigh of relief.

They were all there, the people who had taken Mark and her under their wing in Kabul. Looking round at the welcoming faces of Abu-Zar’s extended family, Ava could only think of the one that was missing.

When the meal was over, Abu-Zar indicated that he and Ava should go with Harim and Firash to Mark’s room to talk.

‘You,’ he told Nadia, ‘will go to bed. This part of the story is ours alone.’

Nadia conceded without argument, heading upstairs to her room.

‘I asked Firash not to reveal this until we brought you here,’ Abu-Zar said. ‘When Mark went out to meet someone the night he was killed, he did not tell us where he was going or whom he was seeing. As you know, the police took most of his things, but not everything. He left a memory stick in our safe to be given to the Scottish detective if anything should happen to him. We passed that on as promised.’

‘McNab never told me that,’ Ava said, thinking about her recent interview. ‘Even when I gave him the one I had from Mark.’

Abu-Zar looked serious. ‘Mark trusted the Scottish detective. I believe his aim is to do his job and to keep you from harm.’

Like Mark, was left unsaid.