Mattie jumped out of the car. ‘You wait here – I’m just going to have a look around.’

Browning let him go; he was much fitter and faster than him. He sat there gripping his radio in his hand, ready to shout for back-up if the golden boy so much as jumped at his own shadow. Lucy would kill him if he let anything happen to Mattie. It was so obvious how the pair of them felt about each other; when this was all over he might have to put his matchmaking skills to the test and get them to admit it.

Mattie disappeared from his sight and he was about to get out of the car when he reappeared, shaking his head. He came back to the car and got inside.

‘There’s no sign of life. The kitchen is clean. No dirty pots lying around and there’s no one in the front room. There’s no car in the garage either. What should we do?’

Browning climbed out of the car. ‘I guess we’ll have to knock on the door.’

He strode across the street and walked up the leafy path to the front door, hammered on it and stepped back. Mattie caught up with him.

‘Wow, I like that. So nice and discreet, just like Lucy said to be.’

Browning looked at him. ‘Are you turning soft on me?’

Mattie gave him the finger. He leant forwards, pressing his ear against the door. There were no noises whatsoever coming from inside.

‘No one’s home. Now what do we do?’

‘We wait for him to come back.’

They returned to the car, where Mattie phoned Lucy to tell her the bad news.

* * *

Lucy arrived at the address they had on file for Jenny Burns, not really expecting her parents to still live there after so long. If the officer on scene guard at the woods had taken his details when she’d asked him to it could have saved them precious time. She opened the rusted gate and walked up the overgrown path. She was about to knock on the door when her phone rang.

Catherine Maxwell’s voice echoed in her ear. ‘We have a positive ID on the body from the woods.’

Lucy stepped back from the front door and whispered, ‘Is it Jenny Burns, by any chance?’

‘Yes, how did you know?’

‘Chris said it was a female aged between twelve and twenty – it’s not exactly rocket science. There were no other females of that age reported missing around that time.’

‘At least she can have a proper funeral now and her family will get the chance to say goodbye. Does she still have family?’

‘Yes, her dad turned up at the scene demanding to know if we’d found his daughter. Twenty-six years he’s been wondering what the hell happened to his girl.’

‘That’s a long time to nurse a broken heart. At least you can give him some answers now, Lucy. Good luck.’

She ended the call and walked back towards the front door, when it suddenly opened. The man from the woods seemed older than she remembered. He took one look at her and his shoulders sagged, along with his head. His eyes glistened and his voice broke as he tried to speak. Lucy stepped forward with a heavy heart, nodding her head. He crumpled before her eyes and she stepped inside the doorway to his house, which smelt of lavender furniture polish. She wrapped her arms around him and held him while he sobbed into her shoulder.

They stayed that way for a few minutes until he let go of her and tottered backwards. Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he stepped to one side to let her in. She closed the front door behind her and followed him into the kitchen, where he pointed to a pine chair. She pulled it out and sat down; he slumped into a seat opposite her.

‘All this time. She’s been there all this time.’

‘I’m so sorry. We’ve only just had positive confirmation from the forensic odontologist that it’s Jenny.’

‘I walked those woods every day – how did I not know my baby girl was lying dead? She was there the whole time underneath my feet, in a grave.’

‘You weren’t to know, Mr Burns; it’s such a huge area. Searching techniques weren’t as advanced when Jenny went missing compared to now.’

He shook his head. ‘Some bastard took my girl. They hurt her and then they put her in a hole in the ground like she was someone’s dead dog.’

‘I know you’ve been asked questions many times before, but not by me. I want to find your daughter’s killer and believe me when I say that I will. I won’t stop until I have whoever it is behind bars.’

He looked at her, really studying her face for several moments. Then he nodded his head. ‘I believe you.’

‘Good, you should. Now can you tell me again exactly what happened that day?’