TWELVE

The Quarry Farm stable yard appeared deserted when Daniel brought the Mercedes to a skidding halt in front of the tack room and he remembered it was the yard’s quiet time.

He was out of the car almost before it stopped moving, shouting for Tamzin. Several horses’ heads appeared over half-doors to see what the commotion was about, but there was no answer and he set off down the narrow path that led to her cottage, taking the steps three or four at a time. Smoke rose in a thin spiral from the tall chimney, but even though the sun had dipped behind the trees, there were no lights showing.

The door was shut and locked and he rapped sharply on it.

‘Tamzin! It’s Daniel.’

She must have been close behind it for immediately he heard the sound of bolts being drawn back and within moments she had pulled it open. She reached through to grab his wrist and pulled him inside before slamming and locking the door once again.

As Daniel turned, Tamzin fell into his arms, burying her face in the front of his jumper, sobbing hard. He held her tight, rubbing her back and feeling her whole body trembling.

‘It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re safe. I’m here now.’

The tiny hallway was cramped and dark, so Daniel went through into the kitchen, still holding Tamzin close.

Freeing one hand, he switched on the light. Over her head he could see two of her dogs curled up in their baskets, watching with solemn concern and, behind them, pressed against the wall, the little Yorkie, shivering piteously. Shattered glass and porcelain littered the floor and grated underfoot.

‘It’s all right,’ he said again. ‘It’s over.’

‘It’s not all right,’ came a muffled voice, hiccupping on a sob. ‘I told them where Kat is. I let everyone down.’

‘Sshh. Of course you didn’t.’

Tamzin sniffed. ‘I didn’t want to tell them, but . . .’

Leaning away from her a little, Daniel put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Anger surged in him as he saw what they had done to her.

A cut and a purple bruise the size of an egg disfigured her left cheekbone, and the eye on that side was swollen shut. Her nose had bled a little, the blood from it forming a black trail on her upper lip, and her lower lip was also split and swollen.

Daniel’s blood boiled. He had no doubt that this was Macek’s work, and if he hadn’t already yearned for payback after what the Romanian had done to Taz and probably Marika too, this cowardly act would have done the trick on its own. He felt horribly responsible. He’d blithely told Tom Bowden that no one knew where Katya was except Hilary and himself, but it wasn’t true. He’d forgotten Tamzin. Indirectly, this was all his fault.

‘Who did it, Tam? What did he look like?’

Tamzin shook her head helplessly. ‘There were two of them, but I couldn’t see their faces. They had stocking masks, like bank robbers, and they were wearing gloves – thin plastic ones, like surgical gloves. It was horrible! One – the one who hit me – was really big. I mean tall and broad. They both had dark hair, I could see that much, and they were foreign. They must be the two you saw the night Katya ran away.’

‘Almost certainly,’ Daniel said. He was reminded of how little she knew of what had gone on since and that added to his feelings of guilt – not that any amount of knowledge would have saved her the beating. ‘I’m really sorry you got mixed up in this.’

‘But what about Kat? Is she safe? I tried to ring Hilary when they’d gone, but she didn’t answer. That’s when I rang you and I thought you weren’t going to answer either. I was really panicking.’

‘It’s OK. I managed to get her on her mobile. I told her to take Katya and get out. If you called me straight after the men left here, they should have had plenty of time to get away. I’m sorry I took so long to answer the phone. I was driving and I didn’t recognize the number.’

‘I know. They smashed my mobile and cut the landline to stop me calling the police. I had to use my spare one.’

‘Oh, sweetheart . . .’

‘I was so scared, Dan. I didn’t see them coming, and when I answered the door, they barged in before I could get it shut again.’ Tamzin’s eyes were wide with remembered fear as she relived the moment, and tears ran, unchecked, down her cheeks. She buried her face against his shoulder once more and he had to bend his head to hear her muffled voice as she continued with her story. ‘First of all, they just asked me about Katya, but when I said I didn’t know where she was, they started smashing things. After that, the big one just started slapping me and the other one stood there and watched – like it was normal. Anyway, then the big one got this knife out and he said if I didn’t tell them where Kat was . . .’ Her voice wobbled and she stifled another sob. ‘He said he’d slash my face. I told them, Dan. I had to. I’m sorry – I was so scared!’

‘Of course you had to. I would have done too. Anyone would,’ Daniel told her.

‘But I told them how to get there,’ Tamzin confessed miserably. ‘They asked me. I’m sorry. I just wanted to get rid of them.’

‘That’s OK. It’s still easy to go wrong on those little lanes. Look, have you called the police and an ambulance?’

Tamzin shook her head. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I knew you didn’t want the police involved. I felt bad enough already. I didn’t want to make things even worse.’

‘We should call them now. This has gone too far, and you need to be checked out,’ Daniel told her. ‘I’m so sorry this happened. Here,’ reaching down for the trembling Yorkie, he put the terrified little dog into Tamzin’s arms. ‘Trixie needs a cuddle.’

‘Poor little girl.’ Tamzin kissed the top of Trixie’s head and held her close. ‘Where will Hilary go, do you think?’

‘I told her to go somewhere where there are lots of people and then call me. A café or library or something.’

‘But she hasn’t called yet?’

‘No.’ Daniel looked at his watch. How long had it been since he’d spoken to her? Fifteen minutes? Probably nearer twenty, even though he’d driven like a madman from Tavistock. He should have heard from her by now. He tried her number again, but all he got was the answering service. He cursed softly.

‘No answer.’

‘You should go and make sure they got away OK. I’ll ring the police. If you do it, they’ll expect you to be here when they come.’

Daniel was torn.

‘I’m not leaving you here on your own. Isn’t there someone who can come and wait with you?’

‘You don’t think they’ll come back?’ she asked anxiously.

‘No. They’ve got what they wanted, but you should still have someone with you.’

‘I’ll get one of the lads to come over. I’ll be fine.’

‘Are you sure?’ Daniel was weakening. Much as he hated the idea of leaving Tamzin in such a state, he needed to be certain that Hilary and Kat had got away safely.

‘I’m sure,’ Tamzin said bravely. ‘I’ll be OK. But what shall I tell the police?’

‘Just tell them what happened today and say Kat worked for you for a couple of days and then moved on. If you like, say the men hit you because you couldn’t tell them where she was. No need to tell them anything else. It would only complicate matters.’

‘Shall I say I called you?’

‘Not unless they ask.’

Giving her another hug, Daniel headed back to his car, trying Hilary’s number again without success. Aware that forensics would try and lift fingerprints from every available surface, he took the time to smudge his own on both the light switch and the door handle with a gloved hand as he went. A clear print of his on top of the rubbed patches left by the Romanians would give the lie to Tamzin’s story and would throw her reliability as a witness into doubt.

Driving to Goats Tor, he pulled into the familiar car park of the White Buck and stopped, wishing he knew what to do for the best. Did Hilary’s silence mean there was a problem? Should he go on waiting for her to call, or should he go to Briars Hill to make sure they’d got away?

He jumped as his phone rang, but a glance at the display showed it wasn’t Hilary but Tom Bowden. Daniel had tried to ring Tom as soon as he’d heard from Tamzin, but frustratingly there had been no answer and he’d had to resort to leaving voice-mail.

‘Daniel, I got your message. Is your girlfriend OK?’

‘She will be, but she’s badly bruised and shaken up.’

‘What about Katya?’

‘I haven’t heard. I’m hoping Hilary got her away in time, but she hasn’t rung back. Should I go over there?’

‘Not unless you absolutely have to. Look, I’m in a meeting. The plan is to hit Moorside House later tonight, so we really don’t want to put the wind up Patrescu and co. if it can be avoided. From what you said, Tamzin doesn’t know enough to give the local police anything useful.’

‘No. They covered up, so she can’t even give them a decent description.’

‘Then let’s hold back if we can. Let me know as soon as you hear that Katya’s safe.’

The call over, Daniel sat staring at the phone in an agony of indecision.

If only Hilary would call.

Should he go to Briars Hill? He certainly wasn’t eager to do so if there was any chance that he’d run into the two Romanians.

But what if Hilary and Kat hadn’t got away? What if they were in trouble?

On the other hand, if he walked into a situation he couldn’t control on his own, what help would he be to the two of them then?

Surely it couldn’t hurt just to go and look?

As he hesitated, he became aware of Taz watching him eagerly from the back of the car, eyes alight with anticipation, and all at once his confidence returned.

He wasn’t alone.

The dog had sensed that something was on and he was ready for it. He might not be 100 per cent fit, but even at 90 per cent, Taz was a formidable opponent.

This time they wouldn’t be caught napping, though. Before setting off for the stables, he let the dog out of the back of the estate car and installed him on the passenger seat.

From the copse on the steep slope behind the house at Briars Hill, Daniel surveyed the property. Smoke was rising from the chimney and a light showed golden at the kitchen window, but although there was no sign of life, he could see Hilary’s Land Rover parked in its customary position to the side of the house.

His heart sank as he saw a black Nissan X-Trail parked next to it. He lifted a small pair of binoculars that hung round his neck and focused them on the number plate. Alpha Tango Charlie – it was Patrescu’s all right.

Turning his attention to the Land Rover, he thought he could just make out the shifting outlines of Hilary’s dogs in the back.

Daniel lowered the binoculars thoughtfully. He knew Hilary had another little car that she used ‘for best’, as she called it, but it seemed unlikely that she’d have loaded her beloved dogs in the Land Rover and then left them behind. Did that mean she was indeed still at the stables? And if so, what of Kat?

Beside him, Taz whined and stood up impatiently. He’d been pleased to get out of the car when Daniel had parked it on the edge of the wood, and he’d thoroughly enjoyed the walk to their vantage point on top of the hill, but things had become a little quiet now and he wanted to be doing something.

‘Quiet!’ Daniel told him. He needed to think.

Movement in the stable yard caught his eye and he raised the binoculars again.

Two men, unmistakably Patrescu and the knife-happy Macek. They were wandering along the row of low-roofed stables, looking into each one. From the way they waved their arms at the ponies to try and get them to back away from the half-doors, Daniel guessed they were well out of their comfort zone around the animals.

Where the hell was Hilary? The fact that the Romanians were still on the property presumably meant that they hadn’t yet found Kat. He hoped that wherever the girl was hiding, the older woman was with her and not lying somewhere battered and bruised like Tamzin, having tried to stand up to the two men.

As Macek approached an apparently empty stable, suddenly a pony’s dark head lunged out over the half-door, teeth bared and ears flattened to its neck.

Macek staggered back so fast that he slipped and almost fell, and in spite of the gravity of the situation, Daniel gave a silent cheer. That would be Drummer, then. The two men gave the pony a comically wide arc and continued with their search.

Daniel looked at his watch. Time was creeping on. Surely the two men would give up soon. Even though they thought they’d left Tamzin without a phone, they couldn’t be so naïve as to think that that situation would be anything but temporary. They had to expect that Tamzin would eventually call the police and tell them where her two attackers had gone. They had no reason to think she would keep the information to herself.

It seemed that Patrescu was indeed thinking along those lines, for when they reached the last stable, he looked at his watch, spoke briefly to his companion and they both headed at a brisk pace towards the house and the black 4x4.

Within moments, they had gone, the vehicle disappearing at speed down the puddled gravel drive, and it was with some relief that Daniel heard it accelerate on to the road and away. Getting to his feet, he set off at a slipping, sliding run down the hill towards the house, much to the joy of Taz, who circled him excitedly until he was told to stop.

Daniel climbed over the post-and-rail fence that bordered the parking area and peered through the side window of the Land Rover. The only occupants were canine, and they set up a storm of yelping barks at the sight of his face at the window.

After glancing up at them almost indifferently, Taz began trotting about, nose down and tail up, and as he checked out where the 4x4 had stood, the hackles rose in a stiff line along his shoulders and back.

‘You can smell him, can’t you, lad?’ Daniel murmured, understanding the dog’s agitation. He too had a score to settle with Macek.

The farmhouse door stood ajar and Daniel pushed it wider and went cautiously into the hallway. Taz, fired up with excitement, passed him in the narrow passage and went through to the kitchen, where no one was at home except for the two cats, who regarded the visitors sleepily from their position on top of the Aga.

Uninterested in the cats, Taz left the kitchen en route to the sitting room and then upstairs, where a clicking of claws on the floorboards told Daniel that he was carrying out a thorough search of the building. His silence indicated that he’d found no one, but Daniel followed him up to the landing, where, as in many houses, there was a loft hatch. This was shut and bolted from below, but not one to take anything at face value, Daniel stretched up to slide the bolt free and let the hatch swing open. It was just possible that Hilary might have hidden the girl up there if, for some reason, they hadn’t got away in time.

Apart from a neatly lagged water tank and half a dozen deckchairs stacked against one partition, the roof space was empty – a stark contrast to the comfortable chaos that ruled down below. Daniel spoke Katya’s name just to be sure, but the only sound to be heard was the wind whistling over the tiles.

Back at first-floor level, Daniel closed the hatch and made a quick search of the four bedrooms, two of which were clearly unused at present. Of the two remaining, Hilary’s was easily recognizable by the general theme of frogs and dinosaurs that held sway among the décor and ornaments. A window stood slightly open, its curtains blowing a little in the cold wind, and Daniel regarded it thoughtfully for a moment before glancing into Kat’s room and then going back downstairs and out into the gathering darkness, followed by Taz.

As he left the house, he practically bumped into Hilary on the doorstep, causing her to let out an involuntary cry of alarm.

Daniel put a hand out to steady her and she clutched his arm.

‘Oh, Daniel! Thank God! Have they gone?’

‘They have. Are you OK?’ She looked physically unharmed, if deeply stressed. ‘What happened? Why didn’t you get away after I called?’

Hilary shook her head. ‘It’s a long story. I’ll tell you, but, Daniel, I can’t find Kat! When we got back with the ponies, I sent her over here to grab some bits and pieces and put the dogs in the car, but then those men came and she just disappeared. I’ve no idea where she went.’

‘You couldn’t find her, but neither could they. I think I might be able to help, though. Come with me.’

Still holding her arm, he led her round the end of the house and turned her to face it.

‘Look up,’ he said, pointing at the roof, which, now they were beyond the glare of the outside security light, was visible as a dark silhouette against the evening sky. From this angle they could see the gable ends of the twin pitched roofs with a chimney at either end of the central gully.

‘Up there?’ Hilary said faintly.

‘She’s a gymnast, remember?’ Daniel told her. ‘I think she saw them drive in and, finding herself trapped in the house, climbed out of the window and on to the roof.’ Then, raising his voice, ‘Kat? It’s Daniel.’

There was a pause, then, ‘Daniel?’ and a shadowy figure appeared beside the chimneystack.

‘Yes, it’s me. It’s all right, they’ve gone.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Quite sure. You can come down now, but for heaven’s sake be careful!’

‘Bah! It’s easy,’ Katya’s voice floated back, loaded with scorn, and sure enough, within the minute she appeared in the doorway of the house.

‘Kat, my dear. Thank goodness you’re all right,’ Hilary said, going forward to give her a hug. ‘Ooh, let’s get you inside. You’re frozen.’

‘No, wait, Daniel! Someone’s coming – I can see their lights,’ Kat was staring down the drive, a note of panic in her voice.

She was back through the doorway in a flash and Daniel turned to watch the steady approach of a pair of oncoming headlights, bouncing over the uneven surface of the drive.

Hilary drew in her breath in sharp dismay. ‘You don’t think they’ve come back?’

‘Unlikely.’ In fact, Daniel was wondering if Tamzin had given in under pressure and told the police everything, but if that had been the case, he would have expected a blue-light-approach. As the car swept into the yard, they could see it was unmarked.

‘If this is the police,’ he said quickly and quietly, ‘deny any knowledge of Kat’s whereabouts. Anything they ask you about her – you don’t know. She was only here a few days and then she left, OK?’

‘OK.’

The car pulled up and two figures stepped out into the glare of the security light, one a well-built man in his thirties and the other a female with blonde hair scraped back severely from a sharp-featured face. Both were dressed in civilian clothes.

‘Daniel Whelan?’ the man asked as he came forward.

Daniel nodded warily.

‘DS Boyd, Molton CID, and this is WPS Hunt. DS Bowden sent us along to make sure everything was OK,’ he explained. ‘Are you Mrs McEwen-Smith? Where’s the girl?’

‘It’s all right,’ Daniel told Hilary with relief. ‘It’s safe to talk. These are the good guys.’

Ten minutes later, having coaxed Kat down to join them, Daniel found Hunt and Boyd enjoying the warmth of the kitchen while Hilary made coffee. The dogs had been brought in from the Land Rover and now lay curled up on their beds.

Daniel took a seat opposite the two officers at the table, but Kat remained standing, drifting across to lean against the Aga.

‘Hello, Katya,’ WPS Hunt said with a smile, but her friendly overture was met with stony silence and a look of profound distrust.

‘So why didn’t you leave after Daniel warned you the men were on their way?’ the WPS said then, turning to Hilary.

‘Because when Daniel first called, I’d just got back from a ride. I had a yard full of children, parents and ponies. It’s a kind of organized chaos. I couldn’t just abandon everyone. It shouldn’t have taken more than ten minutes to sort out, and I thought that while everyone was here, I was safe enough. I planned to leave right behind the last client, so I sent Kat over here to fetch the Land Rover, the dogs and a few essentials, but then everything went wrong.’

‘In what way?’

‘One of the children got bitten by a pony,’ Hilary said, handing the coffees round. ‘It was only a bruise – didn’t break the skin and he’d probably asked for it – but you’d have thought he was a hospital case, the howling he set up. So of course I had to administer first aid, fill out an accident form, comfort the child, reassure the parents, give them a refund – it all took for ever. When they went, I looked up and there were Patrescu and Macek standing in the doorway, waiting.’

‘You recognized them?’

‘No, I’ve never seen them before, but I guessed who they must be.’

‘So what happened next?’

‘Well, I was petrified. Then the smaller one said, “Where is Katya?”’

‘And what did you tell them?’

‘I told them I had no idea. I said she’d come and gone days ago. I said dozens of children help out at the weekends. I never know who’s going to turn up, but Kat only came a few times and then I didn’t see her again. Then they started having an argument – presumably in Romanian. I didn’t understand a word, but it was pretty clear that the big one, Macek, favoured a violent approach.

‘I didn’t hang around to see what the outcome was. There’s a door from my tack room through to the stable area, so while they were busy arguing, I slipped away and hid in one of the stables. I know it was a stupid thing to do because nothing could more surely prove that I’d lied, but it was just instinct, I suppose, to go to ground.’

‘And what did the men do then?’

‘They started shouting, saying I should come out because they would find me eventually, and when they did, it would be worse for me. I was terrified – I mean really shaking. They seemed to be here for ages. I could hear them moving about the yard and house, opening doors and slamming them, throwing things around and calling to one another. Eventually, they started looking in the stables, one by one. I heard them coming up the row and was convinced they’d find me, but Drummer came up trumps, bless him.’

‘Drummer?’ Boyd looked mystified.

‘He’s one of the ponies. Actually, he was the one who bit the child earlier. He’s a smashing pony to ride, but a bit bad-tempered, and once his stable door is shut, he’ll bite anyone who comes too close – except me, of course. That’s why I chose to hide in there.’

‘And it worked?’ Hunt looked at her appraisingly.

Hilary nodded. ‘I don’t know whether he bit one of them, but there was an awful lot of swearing – that sounds the same in any language – and they argued some more. Then a minute or two later, they left. I didn’t come out straight away, though, just in case.’

‘And what about you?’ Hunt asked Daniel. ‘Bowden said he thought we might find you here.’

‘I parked in the village and came up to do a recce,’ he replied, and briefly gave them his side of the story. ‘So when does the raid go down?’ he finished.

‘Nineteen— Er, seven thirty,’ Boyd said. ‘We wanted to be as sure as we could that everyone would be at home.’

‘What raid?’ It was the first time Kat had spoken.

‘The police are going to Moorside tonight,’ Daniel told her. ‘With any luck Macek and Patrescu will soon be in police cells and the girls will be free.’

Hope lit her face and she stepped forward. ‘Elena too?’

‘Most certainly,’ he assured her.

‘What will happen to her – to us? Will they let me see her?’

‘Of course you’ll see her,’ Hunt said. ‘We’re on your side, Kat. You won’t be in any trouble. We’ll look after you, I promise.’

‘But when can I see her? Can we go there now?’

‘No, I’m sorry.’ Hunt shook her head. ‘We have to wait here. If we went, we’d be in the way. But they’ll let us know as soon as there’s any news.’

As the evening wore on, Hilary put potatoes in the Aga to bake, then went out to feed the ponies with Boyd as escort.

Seven thirty came and went. The potatoes were eaten with cheese and pickle, and a large pot of tea made. Conversation was desultory, everyone waiting on tenterhooks for the call to come through from Bowden.

At nine o’clock, Hunt and Boyd excused themselves and went outside.

Kat, who’d been pacing restlessly and demanding to know, every five minutes or so, why they hadn’t heard anything, now stopped and wanted to know what they were doing.

Daniel had no answer for her, and after a moment, Kat announced that she was going to find out and, ignoring Hilary’s protests, headed for the door.

‘Let her go,’ Daniel advised. ‘They’ll keep an eye on her.’

‘I suppose so.’ Hilary sank back into her chair. ‘Have you spoken to Tamzin?’

‘Yes, I rang her earlier. They’re keeping her in hospital overnight. Her mum’s with her, but she sounded a bit depressed.’ He paused, staring deep into the orange heart of the fire. ‘I feel so guilty, dragging you all into this.’

‘We’ve had this conversation before,’ Hilary pointed out quietly but firmly. ‘You didn’t drag any of us into it – we wanted to help.’

‘But you should have seen her face, Hilary – what he’d done to her.’ He stared into the fire again, gazing mesmerized as sparks showered from a collapsing log and were sucked away up the flue. ‘He threatened to cut her, you know. What if he’d done it? If she’d been scarred for life, what then?’

‘It didn’t happen,’ Hilary reminded him gently.

‘But it did happen,’ Daniel stated. ‘Last year. And it was all my fault. The thing was, on the surface, she seemed to be dealing with it, but her mother told me afterwards that she’d stopped seeing her friends – didn’t go out. She said she just needed time, but then one day she took an overdose. Nobody saw it coming – not even her therapist. Her parents only went out for an hour or so, but that’s what she’d been waiting for. She was dead when they got back.’

He fell silent, and after a few moments, Hilary asked, ‘Who was she, Daniel?’

He took a deep breath. ‘Her name was Sara. She was eighteen, very pretty and very bright. She’d just won a place at Oxford. She’d got everything going for her. The only thing she ever did wrong was go into the corner shop at the same time as me.’

‘What happened?’

Daniel glanced at her. ‘You don’t need to hear this.’

‘No, I don’t, but I think you need to tell me. What happened in the corner shop? Was it a hold-up?’

Daniel nodded. ‘A smack-head desperate for a fix and so thin it looked as though a puff of wind would have blown him over, but he had a knife. I’d just finished my shift and was heading back to the station, and I nipped in there for some milk. As soon as he saw my uniform, he panicked and grabbed the nearest person to him, who happened to be Sara. He held the knife to her face and started shouting at me to stay back.’ Daniel frowned, reliving the moment, as he had so many times since. ‘Sara screamed and started to cry. The junkie was babbling like a madman. Other people were panicking. There was so much noise that I took a chance on calling for back-up over my radio. Then the junkie started to back towards the door, dragging the girl with him. One moment the knife would be at her throat, the next he’d be waving it at everyone else. She was crying and mouthing, “Help me! Please! Help me!” over and over again, and she was looking at me. Everyone was. I was the one in the uniform – I would know what to do.’

Daniel shook his head. ‘I tried to talk him down. If nothing else, I thought it might buy me some time until back-up arrived. It was tempting to try for the knife when he was waving it around, but I couldn’t risk getting it wrong, for the girl’s sake. I followed him to the door, but he was shouting at me, “Stay back! I’ll cut her! I’ll cut her!” All I could do was let him go and just hope that the other lads had turned up and were waiting outside . . .’ He paused, his jaw tightening. ‘Through the window I saw him run off – just him, on his own – getting away. So I ran out after him. But then I found Sara.

‘She was sitting on the pavement, her hands over her face. I asked her if she was OK, but then I saw the blood.’ He looked up at Hilary, his expression bleak. ‘The bastard had slashed her from forehead to top lip, right across her eye. For no reason, just because he hadn’t got his own way.’

‘Oh, Daniel!’

‘I tried to comfort her while we waited for the ambulance, but she pushed me away. Do you know what she said?’

Hilary shook her head.

‘She said, “Why didn’t you help me?” And every time I see her face, that’s what she’s saying – and I have no answer.’

There was silence as he stopped speaking, broken only by a log settling in the wood-burner.

‘But it wasn’t your fault,’ Hilary protested. ‘What else could you have done? And where was your back-up?’

Daniel shrugged. ‘Who knows? This was after I turned informer, remember. I wasn’t the most popular copper at the Met just then . . .’

‘You mean they didn’t turn up on purpose?’

He shrugged again. ‘I’ve got no proof.’

‘But that’s appalling! It’s criminal! Wasn’t there an investigation?’

‘Of sorts, but it didn’t turn up anything conclusive. And even if it had, the damage was done. It wouldn’t have helped Sara or her family.’

This sombre reflection was punctuated by the return of Hunt and Boyd. They entered the room ushering Katya ahead of them, and on their heels came the burly form of Tom Bowden. He was looking grim.

‘Where is she? Where’s my sister?’ Katya turned and faced Tom.

‘She’s not here. I’m sorry, Katya . . .’

‘Then where is she? They said she would be free.’ Kat’s voice held a note of hysteria and Hilary went over to put a restraining hand on her arm.

‘I’m sorry, Katya,’ Bowden said. ‘We had the place surrounded, but I’m afraid when we went in, your sister wasn’t there.’