‘What I have is not much, and unconfirmed, but it appears that a British helicopter delivering an injured soldier and his sniffer dog to a medical camp in Helmand province was blown up by a grenade and two medics on the ground were killed. This happened around the time we’re interested in.’

‘Rex?’ Rhona said. ‘Was that the dog’s name?’

‘Now that I have a name,’ Alvis said, ‘I might be able to find that out.’

‘So they may all have been present at the incident? Not just Private Galbraith?’

‘It’s a possibility.’

‘And when Private Galbraith was off-duty for a month, but not sent home?’

‘According to my sources, he may have gone missing at that time,’ Alvis said.

‘Gone AWOL, you mean?’

‘Or he was captured by the Taliban.’

‘And Seven and the others?’

Alvis shook his head. ‘That I don’t know.’

‘Is your source still available?’

‘It’s delicate,’ Alvis said. ‘Norway was one of the first countries to join the USA and the so-called war on terror and we played an active part in the war in Afghanistan, but not everyone was happy about that. The Brits were – are – our allies. If the British Army buried this story, then they had a reason. A reason my contacts may feel they should not make public.’ Seeing Rhona’s disappointment, he added, ‘That doesn’t mean I will stop trying to find out.’

‘They were a close team. You said that when you watched them in the pub.’

Alvis nodded. ‘Although the girl did appear to be on the fringes of the group. Despite that, she had, I think, a special bond with Private Galbraith. That I did notice. And she and Private Galbraith together made a big fuss of the dog.’

‘And now Private Galbraith may be dead.’ Rhona wondered if there was any way Seven might know this, and that had prompted her lonely odyssey.

‘Assuming the body is that of the soldier, does the probable time of death match when she said they all left to pursue their own survival activities?’ Alvis said.

‘It’s a possibility,’ Rhona said. ‘I’m hoping we’ll learn more from the post-mortem.’

Alvis was studying her closely. ‘You’re worried about the girl?’ he said.

Rhona was worried about Seven. Something about the girl seemed to echo her own state of mind. Rhona had had the feeling that the girl, much like herself, had been dwelling on death. She recalled her conversation with Archie about his nephew and how Ali had returned from the front line a changed person. Just as she had, and perhaps Seven too?

‘I am,’ Rhona confirmed with a wan smile, ‘and I can’t explain why.’ Taking refuge in the practical, she told Alvis about tracking Seven with Blaze and where she might have headed. ‘Archie, the drone operator, spoke to someone who was also looking for her. It might have been one of her comrades-in-arms.’