When Clara Melling disappeared, her neighbours said she had spent the evening alone.

Her table told a different story.

Two places had been laid. Two cups stood beside the stove.

One chair was still warm when Cryer arrived.

The back door was bolted from within.

On the upstairs mirror someone had written a single name through the steam: ELLIS.

No person of that name could be connected to Clara.

Three weeks later her suitcase was found at a railway station.

Inside was a ticket dated the night she vanished.

It had never been used.