‘Anderson rang earlier. He said they’re doing more door-to-door enquiries, looking at CCTV and so on. But it all feels pretty hopeless, to be honest.’ She’d got up, then, to carry the box to the door, where she paused, staring down at it. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she’d said. ‘Perhaps I should go and see my parents for a while, although I need to go back to work, soon …’ she broke off. It felt entirely impossible to comprehend a future beyond the question of where Luke was, her life on perpetual, agonizing hold until he was found.

Now, as they edged slowly through the Saturday-afternoon traffic, her gaze flickered unseeingly over Kingsland Road. It would take them a couple of hours to get to Suffolk and she sat back, mulling over the past two days. Once she’d confirmed that her keys had indeed been taken from her bag in Mac’s spare room, Anderson had said little to indicate they’d come any closer to finding who’d been responsible for the break-ins. On the subject of Tom, the detective sergeant had remained tight-lipped. ‘We are pursuing that line of enquiry, yes,’ was all he’d say on the matter.

Although Mac had an impressive selection of new locks fitted to his door, her sleep had been plagued by dreams that someone was trying to break in, nightmares from which she’d jerk awake several times each night, heart thumping, to begin each new day feeling more exhausted than ever. As the van progressed through East London, her thoughts turned yet again to Emily. There’d been no word from her in the few days since they’d met, and Clara found herself thinking of her increasingly often. What if Emily had just vanished again? Should she tell Rose and Oliver about her, or should she trust Luke’s sister that she would contact them herself very soon? Her tired mind struggled to find answers and finally she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

An accident on the motorway meant they didn’t arrive at The Willows until five. The sun was beginning to set over the surrounding fields, the sky already tinged with night when they knocked on the door, and Clara shivered in her coat as they waited. After a while they knocked again, but when there was still no sign of Rose and Oliver she glanced at Mac in confusion. ‘Do you think they’ve gone out?’

He frowned. ‘They knew we were coming, though. Bit weird, isn’t it?’

Walking to the side of the house, she cupped her hands to peer through the window, and it was only then that she noticed its shutters were closed. She tried to think if she could remember ever seeing them closed before, and realized she couldn’t. Looking up at the higher windows, it seemed the house was in total darkness. ‘Mac,’ she said, ‘this is really strange …’