‘All right,’ she said. ‘But I don’t have long, and I must make a call first.’

She dialled Andrew on her cellphone and was relieved when he answered.

‘Darling, I’m going to be a little late,’ she said. ‘Can you leave it for an hour?’

She heard him sigh. ‘An hour then.’

Justin’s luxurious car was waiting in the school yard. For a while, on the journey, neither of them spoke. Evie remembered Mark saying that his father had asked a lot of questions about her. He’d described some of the questions, but how many others had there been?

She took a cautious look at Justin’s profile, which was set and hard, otherwise she would have called it attractive, with a sharply defined nose and a firm chin. A good man to have on your side in a fight. Otherwise, steer clear.

‘So, tell me everything that happened,’ she said at last.

‘I called home and asked to speak to Mark. Lily said he wasn’t there and she didn’t know where he was. Just like last time.’

‘So you immediately blamed me.’

‘I thought you might have some ideas.’

‘I don’t know why we’re going back to this road,’ she said. ‘He’s hardly likely to be there a second time.’

‘Unless there’s something nearby that attracts him. A cinema, a shop?’

‘It’s a tree-lined street. And so are all the others near it. What’s the matter?’

She had noticed him grow suddenly alert, slowing the car and looking around him at the passing streets.

‘I know this part,’ he said. ‘We used to live here.’

‘When?’

‘About three years ago. Is this where you saw him?’

‘In the next road.’

He turned into the street where she had seen Mark slouching along, but, as she had feared, there was no sign of him.

‘Where was your house?’

‘Another five minutes,’ he said tensely. ‘The next turning, then the first on the right.’ He was turning the car as he spoke.