"Inspector Magrath hasn't worked here for six years," Rebus said on the phone.
"Can I speak to someone else, then?"
"We're a bit busy here – what's this about?"
"A missing person."
"That's not our jurisdiction, I would say."
"Apparently, she met with Inspector Magrath. He gave her his card."
"What's the lady's name?" Rebus asked.
"Nina Hazlit."
"Nina Hazlit?" Rebus repeated so that Peter Bliss could hear. Bliss thought for a moment and then shook his head from side to side.
"How can we help her?" Rebus asked.
"Wouldn't it be much easier to ask her yourself?"
Rebus thought for a moment. Bliss was sitting at his desk, opening his prawn sandwich – he always got that from the canteen. Soon Cowan would appear with fingers smelling of bacon-flavored crisps. Maybe a walk downstairs wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"In five," he said and hung up the phone. He asked Bliss if the office had ever dealt with missing persons cases.