Nancy pursed her lips. ‘She doesn’t know what a friend is. At best it’s someone to moan to. Horrible old bag. To think they asked me if Georgie would have run off to go back to her. He can’t bear her, and all she’s interested in is making sure he looks good so it’ll reflect well on her. But the poor little fellow, and he’s only just got over that cough, and this will make him worse again. Sorry,’ she added, taking one look at Tommy’s dismayed expression. ‘It’s nothing to do with you, so forget what I said.’

‘Okey doke,’ he said apprehensively. ‘Shall we go on now?’

They threaded their way down the alley and out at the end nearest Alfie’s house. Tommy gazed along the road. ‘It’s not here.’

‘Are you sure?’ Nancy demanded.

‘Of course I am. I’d recognise it anywhere,’ Tommy assured her. ‘Maybe he’s gone down to the docks? He works there, doesn’t he?’

‘I don’t really know my way around there,’ Nancy said nervously, but Tommy was confident.

‘I do though. Danny used to work there, so I went there all the time when I was young. I’ll be able to search all the likely places he could hide a car, no bother.’

Nancy allowed him to guide her down to the docks, where she felt extremely conspicuous in her glamorous coat and heels, but beyond a few astonished looks, most of the dockers paid her very little attention. She’d been so upset she hadn’t even thought to put on something more sensible before coming out again. Tommy ran swiftly around all the places he could think of, mostly where he used to hide when his brother wanted to fetch him home, but again he drew a blank. He knew just about every possible spot where a vehicle of that size could have been tucked away, but it was in none of them.

‘It’s no good,’ he told Nancy disconsolately, hands shoved in his pockets as he came back to meet her. The wind was whipping off the river, and her hair, for once not immaculately styled, was flying wildly around her face. For a moment he thought she was going to cry but she fought it. Instead she nodded briefly and lifted her chin.

‘Then we’ll just have to try somewhere else,’ she said.