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caller ignored the question. ‘Speak to your daughter. Don’t try any tricks. You have one minute. We are listening in.’
    De Villiers’s ear had become detuned to South African regional accents, but he thought that there was a hint of East London in the voice. The curious phrasing of the warning left no doubt that it was a South African speaking.
    â€˜Dad?’
    De Villiers glanced in the rear-view mirror and steered to the left so that he could stop in the emergency lane.
    â€˜Hello, Babyshoes.’ He glanced at his watch. Time was of the essence and there was so much to say, to find out. ‘Are you okay?’
    There was a pause before Zoë spoke. De Villiers stopped the car and cut the motor. ‘I’m okay, Dad,’ she said.
    â€˜Did they hurt you?’ De Villiers asked, the words getting stuck in his throat.
    There was a small pause before she answered. ‘No, Dad.’
    The pause was an affirmation. He made a special effort to remain calm and steered the conversation in another direction. ‘What are you doing, Babyshoes?’
    â€˜They gave me crayons and paper and dolls to play with.’
    The seconds were ticking by. ‘Listen to me, Babyshoes. You must do everything they tell you, okay? You must be very, very good.’
    â€˜Okay, Dad. When are you coming to fetch me?’
    â€˜Soon,’ De Villiers said. ‘Mum said to say hello and that she loves you.’
    â€˜Okay, bye,’ she said.
    De Villiers could hear Zoë’s abductor’s breathing. He spoke slowly and deliberately. ‘If you hurt my daughter, I will find you and I will kill you in the slowest and most painful manner imaginable. Is that clear?’
    The man laughed. ‘And you’re a policeman and all that,’ he sniggered. ‘Sworn to uphold the law and to give even the vilest criminal a fair trial?’
    â€˜Not this time,’ De Villiers said. He was about to voice another threat, but realised that it would have no bite.
    â€˜Ha fucken ha,’ the man said.
    The line went dead. De Villiers glanced at the display. The call had lasted exactly sixty seconds. I’m going to have to be patient, De Villiers said to himself. This is going to take time and patience, and I am going to have to go against my instincts. I am going to have to resist killing them and work alongside those who have abducted my daughter.
    DS Veerasinghe phoned a minute later. ‘We’ve triangulated the signal and we can pinpoint their location to within a radius of half a kilometre.’
    They think like soldiers, De Villiers thought. A policeman would know that cellphone calls could be traced if not to the precise position of the caller, at least to the general area.
    â€˜Where are they?’ he asked.
    â€˜Have you got a map?’ she asked.
    â€˜No, not here. Tell me. I’ll find it on the map later.’
    â€˜In Kawerau. The lines cross well within the limits of the town.’
    He made his decision quickly. ‘Vaishna,’ he said, ‘I want you to listen very carefully.’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜I want you to destroy all notes and records about the enquiries you’ve made. Okay?’
    She was silent and he had to ask her, ‘Did you hear what I said?’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Will you do it?’
    She hesitated before she answered. ‘If I knew why.’
    â€˜Because I think it is wrong for me to be involved in the investigation of my own child’s disappearance. That’s why.’
    â€˜But why should I destroy records, sir? I could be fired for it.’
    She was right. ‘I’ll take the blame,’ De Villiers said. ‘I’ll give you a written order.’
    She sounded doubtful when she spoke. ‘Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Vaishna.’
    â€˜Yes, sir?’
    â€˜Give me the coordinates please.’
    â€˜The centre of the five hundred metre radius area is at the intersection of