A black boy with extensions on his hair walked over to her and asked her to dance. Joanie bucked up. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be such a cop-out after all . . .

Lizzy went over to Joey and put her hand on his arm.

‘Enjoying yourself, Liz?’

‘Oh, it’s great. Really great. Look at the lights!’

To Lizzy, with her heightened awareness, the lights were a swimming halo of blues and red.

‘How about we go to my car for a while?’

Lizzy giggled. ‘OK.’

She was so far gone that Joey had to help her walk across the field to where he had parked. As they made their way through the throng of people, boys and girls laughed and joked with them. One boy, dressed like a refugee from Woodstock, was spinning around in circles. His hair was braided with flowers and he smoked a large joint. Lizzy and Joey laughed at him. The further they got from the rave the more bodies they had to step over. Some were making out; others were just tripping out of their skulls, lost in their own world.

Joey opened the Sierra and they both got in the back. He kissed her hard, pushing his tongue down her throat.

‘Happy New Year, Lizzy.’

She looked up, trying to focus on his brown eyes.

‘Happy New Year, Joey.’ He slipped his hand up her top and she giggled.

‘One moment, please, I’ve got a New Year’s present for you.’

‘What’s that?’ Joey was smiling in the darkness.

Then he felt his trousers being undone and her dark head slipped down on to his lap.

‘Oh, Lizzy. Happy New Year.’

She was wild all right, and he loved it.

George decided to bury the girl’s body in the gravel. Let them look for this one. Let the police earn their bloody money for once. He covered her over and ran the torch around the dirt, checking that he had not left any incriminating clues. Then he walked backwards, scraping the gravel with the side of his boot. He was certainly not going to do their job for them. Oh, no.

He scrambled up the side of the quarry to his car. The heavy thump of acid house music was everywhere. George frowned as he put his mask neatly in the brown carrier bag before driving home.

The youngsters today were like animals. What sort of parents would allow their daughter out until this time of night? There was no decency in the world any more. The family was a thing of the past. In this self-righteous mood he drove home.

Well, he would make them all sit up and take notice. 1990 was going to be his year. He would make all the parents and husbands in Grantley frightened. Then they might take a bit more care instead of allowing young girls to roam the streets like common prostitutes!