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liked that.”
    “All right, Sammy, what about this friend of yours. How long has she been missing?”
    “Last night, we worked Wakefield’s market square as usual …”
    “Hold on, are you saying she’s only been missing since last night?”
    Sammy was indignant. “Look, I know what you’re thinking but me and Maria, we work together, we look out for each other, we know each other so well. Christ we were in the same kids’ home together!”
    “All right, Sammy, calm down.” Souter glanced round towards Patricia, wondering whether she’d overheard the last part of their conversation, but she was taking a call. “So, you were in the market square, then what happened?”
    “She went off with a punter and never came back.”
    “Did you see who with?”
    “Not really. I’d just got into a car with one of my regulars. The last time I saw her was when I turned to put the seatbelt on. She was talking to someone in a small van, white, it was.”
    “But you don’t know if she got in it?”
    “Tracey said she had, when I got back.”
    “Tracey? Who’s Tracey?”
    “Just one of the other girls.”
    “So how long had you been gone?”
    “Only about fifteen minutes. Like I said, he was a regular.”
    “And you’ve checked where she lives?”
    “We share a room in a house up on the Woodside estate. She hasn’t been back. I’m worried, Mr Souter.”
    “She wouldn’t have done an all-nighter, would she?”
    “No, not without telling me.”
    Souter took a breath and thought for a moment. “Now don’t get upset with this, but I’ve got to ask …”
    Sammy looked straight at him. “Drugs, you mean?”
    He nodded. “Was Maria involved with anything?”
    “Well, we smoke a bit, maybe some ganja sometimes. Christ, you’ve got to have something to get you through the day … or night, if you get my drift … but nothing heavy.”
    “I’m not judging you, Sammy, it’s just an angle we need to cover. I mean, she’s not likely to have taken anything with someone else …?”
    “No, she wouldn’t, not with anyone we didn’t know.”
    “You didn’t recognise this white van? Could it have been one you’d seen before, previous client maybe?”
    “I don’t think so. They are fairly common, though.”
    “What about this other girl, Tracey, was it? Has she got any idea about this?”
    “She said she didn’t recognise the van.”
    Souter leaned forward in his chair. “So what exactly do you think I can do to help?”
    “Well, there’ve been rumours … this might not be the first time something like this has happened.”
    His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
    “I’ve heard about a couple of girls go missing recently.”
    Souter looked sceptical.
    “Look, I know what you’re thinking, street girls just come and go, move on to different territory, whatever. But they were regular girls, worked with mates, kept an eye out for one another, and they just wouldn’t have gone off without letting one of the others know.”
    “Do you know where these others went missing from?”
    She looked away for a second. “Not sure. It’s just some talk I heard.”
    “All right, Sammy, let me look into this. I might want to speak to your friend, Tracey.”
    “She’s not really my friend, just one of the girls.”
    “Well, anyway, could you arrange that?”
    “Yeah, I think so.”
    “So, how can I contact you?”
    “Can I borrow a pen?”
    Souter pulled one from his shirt pocket and handed it to her. She began writing on a blank margin of one of the newspapers on the table. “Here,” she said, tearing off the strip. “This is my address and the number of the payphone in the hallway. You can try that.”
    “Okay, Sammy, I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve found anything out.” Souter got to his feet and, as he put his pen back, drew out a business card. “In the meantime, if Maria does turn up, give me a call.”
    “Thanks, Mr Souter.” Sammy stood up.  “I’m sorry if I caused you any