Harry Potter forgotten, Callum jumped up and went to his bookshelf. He took down a spiral-bound notebook with a picture of Dr Who’s Tardis on the cover. ‘Here we are, a police box — well, sort of.’

‘Perfect, son.’ She smiled to herself. Somehow it pleased her that in the era of smartphones and laptops, her boy was still fond of paper. Callum must have over twenty new notebooks on his shelves. ‘Ready, Partner?’

‘Good to go!’

They locked the house, made doubly sure it was secure, then headed out of the village in Annie’s Ford Fiesta.

‘Our first mission is to locate a lady called Fleur Harper. The bad man got into her house the other night, and we need to interview her.’

Callum nodded seriously. ‘Does she have a son? Did his picture go missing too?’

‘Yes, she does, but the police say he lives with his dad and just visits at weekends.’

‘Ah, like my friend Jamie. Divorced, I guess, like Jamie’s parents. He says it’s not so bad. He gets two homes, two bedrooms, two lots of clothes and loads of presents.’ He looked up at her. ‘I can see what they’re doing, Mum. It’s because they feel guilty about splitting up.’

Annie glanced at him, impressed. ‘You could be right there, son.’

‘How are we going to find this lady, then?’ he said.

‘Well, we’ll park in the village, and . . . suppose we see an old couple walking a dog? I’ll ask them if they know where Fleur Harper lives.’

‘Yes, that would work.’ He nodded to himself. ‘Hey, see that children’s play area? And the field? Jamie’s dad took us there for a friendly match with some other kids the other Sunday. If there’s any kids around I could ask them if they know where Mrs Harper lives.’

Annie smiled. A kid asking directions to someone’s house would give less rise to suspicion. ‘Great idea. We’ll see what we find when we get there, shall we?’

They pulled up in the church car park. ‘Target at three o’clock!’ Callum pointed to a young woman emerging from her front garden with a child in a pushchair. ‘Quick! Interrogate her, Mum!’

Annie opened the car door, trying hard to look serious.

She strolled across and smiled at the young woman. ‘Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you. I suppose you don’t know where I can find Mrs Fleur Harper, do you?’

The girl brushed her hair from her face. ‘I’m sorry but we haven’t been here long. I’ve heard the name, but I’m afraid I don’t know where she lives.’

‘No problem, thanks anyway.’

As Annie turned to walk away, the girl said, ‘If I was you, I’d go over to the churchyard. You’ll find old John there, pottering about. He knows everyone in the village.’