The dog handler who was leading their group explained that they needed to remain within six feet of the people to the right and left of them as, that way, they could thoroughly search the area.

‘Don’t rush. Scan the ground for anything unusual. Rake through the undergrowth with your sticks,’ he said. ‘Disturbed ground, a shoe, a handkerchief or some other small thing could help us work out what happened here. Yell out if you do find something, but don’t pick it up or touch it.’

Molly had brought a walking stick from home, as had many others. A walker had left it in the shop; it was a slender, lightweight, metal one with a spike on the end to get a grip in muddy conditions.

They set off immediately. The new man was to her right; on her left was Maureen French, a middle-aged, rather horsey woman who sang with Molly in the church choir.

The dog was very busy at first, going here and there, and sniffing wildly. Molly thought this must be because Petal had played close to the cottage and he was getting her scent strongly. But by the time they’d gone about a hundred yards into the woods the dog appeared to lose the scent. This wasn’t surprising, as Cassie had always told Petal not to go out of sight of Stone Cottage and, as the undergrowth was very thick – in places, really hard to get through – Molly couldn’t imagine a little girl with bare legs attempting to force her way in.

‘Tough going, isn’t it?’ the writer man said to her after about an hour. ‘I believe you know Petal well. Do you think it’s likely she would have come this way?’

‘Not if she was on her own, but then, if she was taken, the person might have carried her,’ Molly replied. ‘The police must know what they’re doing. By the way, I’m Molly Heywood. I don’t think we’ve met before.’

‘I’ve seen you in the grocer’s,’ he said, pausing for just a second and leaning on the stout stick he was carrying. ‘I’m Simon Fairweather.’

At nine they stopped for refreshments in a field. Mr Henderson, a retired schoolteacher who lived close to the field, announced that they’d covered two miles. He had a pedometer and had measured the distance. ‘It seemed a lot further than that,’ Molly said, with some surprise. She knew the area pretty well, but she hadn’t ever walked right through the wood before to get to where they were now. ‘But then it was such hard going, climbing up one minute, then climbing down, and through all those brambles and shrubs.’

‘It didn’t look to me as if anyone had been through there in months,’ Mr Henderson said. ‘No broken branches or trampling underfoot. I saw a few tracks made by small animals, but nothing by a human.’

‘You trained in tracking under Chief Sitting Bull, then?’ Simon asked teasingly.

Mr Henderson laughed good-naturedly. ‘Well, all those cowboy-and-Indian films I watched as a kid must have taught me something,’ he said.

‘Cassie used to take Petal out in the woods to find wood for the fire,’ Molly said. ‘They used to follow animal tracks. I went with them several times, but Petal hated being scratched. I don’t think she’d flee into thick undergrowth, not even if she was scared. She’d have run for the road.’

‘I think you’re right there,’ Simon agreed. ‘From what I’ve seen of Petal, I’d agree entirely.’

‘You knew her and Cassie then?’ Molly asked.

Simon nodded. ‘I like walking, and I often do a circular walk, coming back past Stone Cottage. Cassie always spoke to me, offered me a drink or whatever. I stayed for supper with them once.’

Molly thought it a little odd that Cassie had never mentioned him. Simon Fairweather was most definitely the kind of man you would mention meeting.

‘Did you go to the police and tell them that?’

He looked startled, his grey eyes widening. ‘No. Well, why would I? I didn’t have a relationship with Cassie, it was only the odd chat.’

‘But you must have formed an opinion about her, picked up little snippets that might be useful to the police?’

He looked doubtful about that, and it crossed Molly’s mind that he may have had a bit of a fling with Cassie. She was very easy about sex. Just a couple of months ago she’d cheerfully admitted to having sex in a field with a man she’d met an hour before in the library.

‘Don’t worry. It was a one-off.’ Cassie had laughed at her friend’s shocked expression. ‘He didn’t have a clue, and I didn’t like him enough to coach him.’

Remembering that admission made Molly wonder if she should tell the police about it; she didn’t want to portray Cassie in a bad way but that man could be her killer.

‘I think you ought to talk to the police, Simon,’ she said. ‘I keep remembering little things that may or may not be important. One thing I was just reminded of is a bit embarrassing, but I think I ought to pass it on.’

‘Someone she slept with?’ he asked.

‘Umm …’ Molly hung her head.

‘I didn’t sleep with her,’ Simon said. ‘I liked her, but that was all.’

Molly felt she believed him. ‘What did you talk to her about?’

Simon smiled. His eyes were very twinkly and she noticed he had lovely full lips. ‘About books, mostly. I write, you see, got my first book published last year. Cassie wanted to know all about it.’

Molly remembered then that Cassie had said she met a man she talked about books to. For some reason, Molly had assumed he was elderly; she certainly hadn’t considered that it could be the writer so many women in the village gossiped about. ‘Tell me about it. What kind of book is it?’

‘It’s a thriller called “Shadows”. It didn’t exactly set the world alight, but I’m just doing the final editing on a second one, which I hope might.’

Molly liked the light way he spoke; he didn’t seem to take himself too seriously.

They set off on the search again then, circling round an hour later so that they came back to Stone Cottage soon after one. The other search parties arrived back a short while later, everyone looking very wet and weary. DI Girling got them to gather round so he could speak to them.

‘We’ve covered a vast area this morning, far further than it would be possible for a six-year-old to walk, and we have found nothing to prove that Petal has been in that area. Thank you all for your help, and, although I know many of you were intending to continue searching until Petal is found, we need to stop for now while I reconsider what needs to be done. We will call on you should we need to conduct another search.’

Simon looked at Molly, and shrugged. ‘He’s right. She couldn’t have walked beyond the area we searched.’

‘Then that means she was taken,’ Molly said, tears springing involuntarily to her eyes. ‘I just wish there was something more I could do.’

Simon reached out and put his hand on her arm in sympathy. ‘Me, too,’ he agreed. ‘Will you introduce me to one of the cops you know so I can tell them I knew Cassie a bit?’

‘I’ll take you to George Walsh,’ she agreed. ‘He interviewed me last night, and he’s a good sort.’

George Walsh had been in a different group to them. When she went over to speak to him he took off his helmet and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. Molly introduced Simon, explaining that he’d known Cassie.

‘I think you might be the right people to help out the DI,’ George said. ‘Just wait here while I have a word with him. I know the others are going to get the coach back to the village, but someone will run you back down later.’

‘What do we know that might help the DI?’ Simon asked Molly as PC Walsh walked away.

‘Just stuff Cassie told us, I suppose, but I could murder a cup of tea, so I hope he doesn’t keep us long,’ she replied.

After speaking to DI Girling, PC Walsh left with the others, walking up the track to the lane and the waiting coach. DI Girling came over to Molly and Simon.

‘I hear you both knew Cassie quite well and have been in her home. PC Walsh thought you could help by looking around it and seeing if you notice anything missing, something that wouldn’t normally be there, or anything that doesn’t seem right. Miss Heywood, I believe you were very close to Miss March and her daughter, so maybe you could tell if any clothes or toys have been taken?’