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serious fault requiring towing for repair. Another driver remembered the ferocious night in question, but did not recall a child among his passengers.
    â€œFew people ventured out that night, sir,” he stated. “It was a foul night!”
    One driver, however, clearly remembered a weeping girl on his coach accompanied by a middle-aged man. He presumed her misery to be associated with the coldness of the bus. They exited at Wentworth, the final destination.
    â€œI didn’t see where they went. Everyone had heads down trying to shelter from the weather. The bus had been so cold; folk just wanted to get home.”
    An appeal went out to trace passengers from that bus, not an easy task, as the depot was a hub-centre, taking people on other routes and to other states.
    Some days later a call came through to Harvey. A passenger had come forward confirming the presence of a young girl travelling with a man. The witness had been sitting across from them.
    â€œI was concerned about her. She moaned constantly. I presumed like the rest of us that she was cold. The guy with her didn’t seem to communicate or comfort the poor kid. I myself fell asleep and only woke up when we reached Wentworth. They were ahead of me for a time, walking towards the east side of town to Lox Road where I lost sight of them when I turned for home.”
    â€œNo one seemed to be out and about that evening, sir,” reported officers assigned to find the location described by the passenger.
    An appeal went out; door-to-door enquiries were made around Lox Road and surrounding streets. The residents were asked to recall the night in question and report anything unusual in the area. The police had a breakthrough when a householder told of a delivery van that cruised her street. She watched as it slipped and skidded on the icy road as the driver attempted to read the house numbers.
    â€œIt came to a halt at number 28A Lox. Not that I was being nosey!” she exclaimed. “I was looking out at the weather when I spotted the truck; it was slipping all over the place. We never get our streets treated for ice, you know; something should be done about it.”
    A warrant was issued to search the premises of number 28A. A team of officers entered the building in the early hours of the morning, taking the householder by surprise. The place was dusted for fingerprints and sent for checking. The occupant, a woman in her fifties, appeared bemused and agitated at the activity in her home. She claimed to have no knowledge of a truck at her door and had no idea, she said, as to why her house should be searched. Attempts to trace the truck proved futile; major companies had no record of their vehicles being in the area on the night in question and smaller companies too gave similar responses.

Chapter 4
    Brenda Mears had never experienced anything other than luxurious living. Both her parents had come from wealthy families and had accumulated fortunes of their own, before meeting at a business convention.
    Brenda’s mother had died giving birth to her. Her devastated father threw himself into his business ventures, rearing his infant daughter with help from his sister-in-law, Anna. As if to atone for his child’s deprivation of a mother’s love, Simon Mears spared no expense in the raising of his daughter. Her aunt privately blamed the child for the death of her only sibling and unfortunately, on occasion, was unable to refrain from being outspoken. This led to tension in the already stressed household, to the extent that Anna felt unable to continue looking after her niece. She intimated her intention to return home to her antique business when suitable help could be found for the hapless father and motherless child.
    Molly Kelly, recently widowed and with a young child of her own to care for, was grateful to find such employment and entered the life of the Mears family. The sister-in-law, relieved of her task, returned to her own