‘SHE MUST HAVE HEARD US,’ I SAY, SHAKING AS I OPEN my car. I get hold of Douglas. He isn’t at the station yet and says he’ll do a circuit of the streets.

I ask my mobile to call Cassie as I pull out. A horn blares and I brake hard and jolt forward. I sit, gripping the steering wheel tightly. That was close. Cassie answers and I explain briefly, my voice cracking.

‘We’re not at home,’ she says. ‘Hannah? Have you had any messages from Lottie?’

‘No,’ I hear Hannah reply.

I call Mara, and while she runs upstairs to ask Leila, I turn on to the parade and pull into a parking spot.

‘She doesn’t know anything about it, I’m afraid,’ Mara says. ‘Try the others. And call me if you hear anything, I’ll be worrying.’

I put my head in my hands, then someone bangs on the window. It’s a mother from the school.

‘Grace, are you all right?’ she asks.

‘I’m fine. A headache, that’s all. You haven’t seen any kids on the street, have you? Only Lottie is out with her friends, and I need to get her back in for her tea.’

She gives me a disapproving look. ‘No, I haven’t seen them. But if I do, I’ll tell them to go straight home.’

‘Thanks.’

She now thinks I’m an appalling mother. She doesn’t know what being neglected and left to roam actually means. It’s not our carefully brought-up girls, playing out with their friends in a place where they know practically everyone, it’s a tired and hungry child kicking her heels on dirty, litter-strewn streets because she can’t get into her flat and has no idea where her mother is or what time she’ll be back. I feel tears welling up and hurriedly wipe them away, then start the car. I’m sure Lottie is fine, just lying low, making a point. She’s a sensible girl. But that woman’s disapproval is infectious, and panic begins to creep in, an insidious tide.

There isn’t a paedophile behind every tree, I tell myself. Keep things in perspective. And yet the look on that woman’s face, and the judgement implied, has spooked me.

Douglas calls to tell me that he hasn’t found her and he’s going to call the police. I want to be sick. The next time my phone rings it’s Anna.

‘Grace? Is everything OK? Lottie’s come over. I didn’t forget a playdate, did I?’

‘What!’ I hit the brake and earn my second angry blast. I hold my hand up to apologize. ‘No. She ran out of the house. I’ve been looking for her.’

‘I had no idea she was here until two minutes ago. Kai must have sneaked her in while I was on the phone.’