Giles drove up to London that evening, and when he arrived in Smith Square his housekeeper confirmed that Sebastian hadn’t been in touch.
Once Giles had passed that news on to Harry, his next call was to the assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard. He couldn’t have been more sympathetic, but he pointed out that a dozen children were reported missing in London every day, and most of them were a lot younger than Sebastian. In a city with a population of eight million, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But he said he would put out an alert to every police district in the Met area.
Harry and Emma sat up late into the night calling Sebastian’s grandmother Maisie, his aunt Grace, Deakins, Ross Buchanan, Griff Haskins, and even Miss Parish, as they tried to find out if Sebastian had been in touch with any of them. Harry spoke to Giles several times the following day, but he had nothing new to report. A needle in a haystack, he repeated.
‘How’s Emma bearing up?’
‘Not well. She fears the worst as each hour passes.’
‘And Jessica?’
‘Inconsolable.’
‘I’ll call you the moment I hear anything.’
The following afternoon, Giles rang Harry from the House of Commons to tell him he was on his way to Paddington to visit a woman who’d asked to see him because she had news about Sebastian.
Harry and Emma sat by the phone, expecting Giles to ring back within the hour, but he didn’t call again until just after nine o’clock that evening.
‘Tell me he’s fit and well,’ said Emma after she’d grabbed the phone out of Harry’s hand.
‘He’s fit and well,’ said Giles, ‘but I’m afraid that’s the only good news. He’s on his way to Buenos Aires.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Emma. ‘Why would Seb want to go to Buenos Aires?’
‘I’ve no idea. All I can tell you is that he’s on board the SS South America with someone called Pedro Martinez, the father of one of his school friends.’
‘Bruno,’ said Emma. ‘Is he on board as well?’
‘No, he can’t be, because I saw him at his house in Eaton Square.’
‘We’ll drive up to London immediately,’ said Emma. ‘Then we can visit Bruno first thing in the morning.’
‘I don’t think that would be wise in the circumstances,’ said Giles.
‘Why not?’ demanded Emma.
‘For several reasons, not least because I’ve just had a call from Sir Alan Redmayne, the cabinet secretary. He’s asked if the three of us would join him in Downing Street at ten o’clock tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s a coincidence.’