‘Christ, I don’t know.’ She stood up and raked her hands through her hair. ‘All these questions.’ Ella was beginning to feel a little agitated. They shouldn’t be here talking about football – they should be out looking for Alex. ‘I’ve never asked! He goes and plays football, then comes home.’

‘Try and keep calm, Miss Johnson, take a seat. These are just standard questions, so that we can try to build a picture of Alex’s routine,’ the officer soothed.

‘You need to get out there and find him. He can’t just disappear off the face of the earth with no trace. Something has happened to him, I know it. He wouldn’t do this to me, he messages me all the time.’ Ella’s voice wavered as she sat back down at the table.

‘And his phone? Have you rung his phone since Alex has disappeared?’

Ella nodded. ‘Yes, of course I’ve rung his phone. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve rung his phone, but all it says is my call can’t be connected. Alex never has his phone switched off. Please, please just find him!’ she pleaded.

‘We’ll do our very best. It’s our job to investigate, and our first stop is the City Hospital.’

‘Good, because they wouldn’t tell me anything.’ Ella was taking in huge gulps of air as she tried to catch her breath. ‘They said they can’t give out any information about any member of staff, due to data protection.’

‘Leave that to us. Have you got anyone who can come and sit with you?’

Through her tears all Ella could manage was a nod. ‘My friend Callie is on her way. She’s travelling from Scotland, but her train gets in…’ Ella glanced up at the clock on the wall, ‘any time now.’

Both policemen stood up. ‘That’s good. We’ll be back in touch after we’ve visited the hospital.’

‘Will that be today?’ Ella just wanted answers.

‘Yes, hopefully today.’

Hearing a knock on the door, Ella’s eyes widened. She scraped back her chair and rushed to the door. ‘Alex… Alex!’ she shouted and flung the front door open… to find her friend Callie standing on the doorstep.

Feeling like her legs were going to buckle underneath her, Ella held on to the door tightly. ‘He’s got a key, Alex wouldn’t be knocking, he’s got a key.’

Callie opened her arms wide and grabbed on to her friend. Ella could feel her whole body physically shaking. ‘Thank God you are here. I can’t believe this is happening.’ Once again, a tsunami of tears ran down her cheeks.

‘I’m going nowhere,’ replied Callie, noticing the two policemen standing behind Ella. ‘Is there news, have you found him?’

Ella shook her head and let go of Callie as the police constables walked outside.