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Mairéad comes a little closer. ‘Time?’
‘Her next match only started at two thirty. That’s less than ten minutes ago. I’m sure the organizers, under the circumstances … I mean …’ Lena gasps for breath. Her whole body shudders. ‘She worked so hard.’
‘Lena, I need to ask—’
‘They’re saying someonetookher. Pulled her into avan. That can’t be right. Can it?’
Mairéad crouches down, covering the other woman’s hands with her own. Despite the heat inside the office, Lena Mirzoyan feels like a slab of chilled meat. ‘I know this is hard to hear,’ she says, ‘but we’re operating on that basis for now. It doesn’t mean it’s our only focus. We have officers searching the hotel, just in case. The surrounding streets, too. And we’re checking all the local transpo—’
Lena pulls back her hands. ‘Why would anyonetakeher? Today, of all days?’
‘If someonehastaken Elissa, there’s a very good chance it’s someone she knows, quite possibly someone you both know. Who might that be, Lena? Do you have any ideas?’
The woman’s eyes dart around the office, as if she’s searching for an exit. ‘There’s no one.’
‘What about her dad? How’s their relationship?’
‘They don’thavea relationship, not any more. And Ian wouldn’t … He’s just not …’
Mairéad nods, easing back a little. Regardless of what Lena Mirzoyan believes, her ex will remain a priority until something rules him out. ‘These last few weeks – have you noticed any changes in Elissa’s behaviour? Anything out of the ordinary?’
‘Not that I can remember.’
‘Anyone new she was communicating with?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Does she have a phone?’
Lena opens her bag and takes out a Samsung. ‘She asked me to look after it.’
‘You know the password?’
‘Yes.’
Unfortunate that Elissa doesn’t have the phone – they might have traced her location through it – but at least they can harvest the data. ‘That’s great, Lena. That’s really helpful. Does Elissa own any other devices?’
‘An iPad and a laptop. They’re both at home.’
‘We’ll need to look at them right away. I’ll have someone drive you back to Salisbury so we can collect them. We’ll also need to search her bedroom – see if anything there can indicate where she might have gone.’
Lena’s eyes widen further. ‘But I can’t gohome. I need to be here. I need to be here for when she comes back.’
Mairéad pauses, tries to imagine what the other woman is feeling. ‘Look,’ she says. ‘This is tough. It doesn’t get any tougher. But out there, right now, I have scores of highly trained officers doing their very best to find Elissa and bring her back. They’re working to a very well-tested plan. I need you to be brave. I need you to put your trust in us. And I need your help to make sure we have every single bit of information that could make a difference, so that we can do the best possible job. Can you do that for me?’
Lena’s chest rises and falls. She makes a sound like a wild animal in distress. Drawing out another phone, she turns it towards Mairéad. On the screen is an image of Elissa. This one’s not serious, like the other photograph. In it, the girl is grinning inanely, a red feather boa wrapped around her neck. An older couple cluster behind her, holding party balloons. Their eyes sparkle with love. ‘This is her,’ Lena whispers. ‘This is Elissa. My daughter. My life.’
And Mairéad – thirty-eight years old, no child of herown – understands exactly. In an instant, Elissa Mirzoyan becomes something entirely different to what she was.
Again, that inhuman sound of suffering tears loose from Lena’s chest. ‘I know you’ll try. All of you – I know you will. But you’vegotto succeed. You’ve got to bring her back. Promise me you will. Promise.’
The woman’s expression is one of such desperation, such porcelain-fragile hope, that the room feels barren of air. Mairéad glances at the two officers by the desk.
No one can speak.
IV
Ten minutes later, police track down Lena’s ex. He’s at his office, in Birmingham, which rules him out as a suspect.