Prologue
"Clara, put that down. That is an Edaphosaurus fossil - one of the best preserved in my entire collection," Tim Fields said, keeping one brown eye on the papers he was rifling through and the other on his daughter.
"Sorry, Dad," Clara apologised, gently placing the fossil down. She propped herself up on his messy desk instead, swinging her long legs back and forth. "I'm just bored."
"Why don't you see if Michael wants to play?" Her father grunted as he shifted a large pile of papers to one side. "Or maybe pay Nick and Helen a visit. They haven't seen you for a while."
"Yeah, there's a reason for that," Clara muttered sourly under her breath. Every time she had gone over to Nick and Helen Cutter's house within the past few months, she had always been subject to one of their arguments. Most recently, it was about Helen wanting to go on an expedition that could lead to some interesting discoveries - but her husband did not want to go with her.
"Found it!" Tim exclaimed, waving a thick wad of paper around in the air, a wide grin on his face.
Heavy footsteps approached Tim's office door, and not a moment later the door had burst open, Nick Cutter standing on the other side. His face was solemn and he looked as though he had sprinted the whole way there.
"Nick! I've found Sophie's dissertation, we can send it off now," Tim smiled, but it began to fade when he took a closer look at his oldest friend's face. "Nick? What is it?"
Nick stole a quick glance at Clara before returning his gaze to her father. "Helen's gone missing," he revealed after a moment.
Clara hopped down off the desk and joined the two older men, forming a sort of circle. "What?"
Nick sighed. "She went on that expedition she's been wanting to do - in the Forest of Dean - a few days ago. No one's seen her since. The police have found some of her stuff, but she's nowhere to be found."
Clara's stomach lurched. She had known Helen Cutter for most of her life, if not all, and it was a painful blow to discover she had gone missing.
"Are you okay?" Tim asked, his tone full of concern. He rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I'll be fine," Nick shook his head in a dismissive manner. "They've got people out looking for her, but if I know my wife, then she'll leave nothing for them to find."