Burke was already at the Keating house when Stone got there. They had split up after briefing their team at the station and assigning duties; Burke had returned to Griffin Games to collect a list of personnel dismissed from the company within the past two years, while Stone had gone home to let his wife know he would be working overnight, and to collect a change of clothes.

Stone found his partner in the kitchen. "I see you're making the most of the situation, Steven," he remarked, nodding at the plate of chicken, covered in a sauce of some kind, new potatoes, peas, carrots and cauliflower.

"I have a plate for you as well, inspector, if you're hungry," Mrs Wembley said, getting to her feet. "And there's fresh coffee in the pot."

That was music to Stone's ears. "Thanks." He poured himself a cup of coffee and accepted the offered meal gratefully – he hadn't wanted to take the time to stop for a meal at home. "Justin picked up Jerry Logan earlier," he told his partner as he cut himself a forkful of chicken and lifted it to his mouth.

"Where'd he find him? Burke asked after washing down the last mouthful of his dinner with a sip of coffee.

"David Ashford's, apparently," Stone answered. "He went there to check on Ben's alibi, and found his brother there, playing a game and drinking beer. It seems Ashford got a bit aggro when he was questioned about Ben's alibi, so Justin ended up bringing both of them in so they can sober up before he questions them again."

"Did he have any problems?"

"He said Ashford got a bit aggro, but that's all. Why do you ask?"

Burke smiled. "I looked up Ashford's file while you were with the chief – he's six-five and seventeen stone of muscle, and he was a boxer in his youth. I wouldn't have put it past Justin to say the wrong thing and get himself knocked out."

"He's not likely to have said anything to me if that had happened. If he did get himself thumped, I'm sure we'll know about it sooner or later," Stone smiled at the thought of his subordinate getting hit, though he knew it wasn't very nice of him to do so.

His expression as neutral as he could make it, Burke changed the subject. "Have you been told that the tech expert from Scotland Yard is here?"

Stone hadn't, and said so. "Where is he?" he asked.

"The library," Burke told him. "He and his assistant/partner arrived about twenty minutes before I did, apparently, and started setting up straight away. I haven't introduced myself yet, I thought it best to leave them to it and wait till you got here."

"Evening, Inspector Evans I take it," Stone said upon entering the library. "I'm Detective Inspector Stone, I'm in charge of this investigation," he introduced himself with an outstretched hand, which was shaken by his fellow inspector.

"Terry Evans, and this is Sergeant Hunt, Dana," the inspector provided his half of the introductions.

"You're the tech experts who are going to help us catch these kidnappers," Stone said. "How exactly are you going to do that?" he asked. Even after several courses he struggled with computers and the more technical side of investigations – he was a bit of a luddite, and not afraid to admit it.

"Well, the kidnappers could get in touch in one of a few ways: by email, by calling the landline, by calling or texting a mobile belonging to either one of the family or a member of staff." Evans paused to wet his lips from a glass of water and then continued, "They might even use an instant messaging program, or one of any number of other communication programs, like Skype." He smiled at the look on his Stone's face. "There's no need to feel daunted or overwhelmed; by the time we're finished, we'll be able to track any communications in or out of here, no matter where they come from.

"This isn't going to be easy, I don't want to give the impression it will be. There are ways the kidnappers can make it difficult to trace their communications, ways they can find from the internet with a bit of searching, but all they can do is slow us down. Even if they use a mobile phone and a wireless internet access point, or something similar, we'll track them down."

Stone liked his confidence, he just hoped it wasn't misplaced.