I was just finishing a meeting.’ Henry Hall waved away the last stragglers from the briefing. How gripping could budget estimates be?‘It’s just that … I don’t really know where to begin.’ Jacquie began to pace back and forth along the landing. She always thought better when she was on the move. ‘As you know, I’m still on this school trip, and one of the staff has gone missing.’There was a silence, broken eventually by a deep breath from Henry. He assumed from her moderate insouciance that it wasn’t Maxwell. Damn. ‘How long?’ he asked.‘Well, that’s the thing,’ Jacquie admitted. ‘Only since early today, but we thought she was missing on Sunday, and she wasn’t. She seemed really sorry and she had left a note, only her husband hadn’t found it, and … ooh, guv, I feel as if I’ve got one hand tied behind my back, not able to do anything.’‘It’s a bugger,’ Hall agreed. ‘Do the locals know you’re with a school party? Because that really should make a difference.
