Cover

Dedication

To my parents,

for their endless love and encouragement.

Prologue

Late September 2019

Max stood on the bridge looking down into the black, fast-moving river. The boards creaked as he walked further on. The wood was covered in lichen in places, so slippery you could easily fall through the broken rung. He paused. The damp air filled his nostrils. An owl hooted in a tree silhouetted against the inky sky. It was no good. He’d thought it over a thousand times.

He climbed up the wet railings. Somewhere in the darkness, a man called out. Max’s hands struggled to maintain their grip. The rucksack slipped off his back, pulling him to one side. He slid his arms out of the straps and let the bag plunge into the water.

Chapter One

Maddy: Late September 2019

Maddy is in the garden deadheading roses when a ring of the doorbell splinters the silence. Poppy and Daisy bark and run around her legs.

‘Go away,’ she says under her breath and twists off another flower, scattering petals on the lawn. Only strangers come to the front. The ring is more insistent now. She kicks off her sandals at the back door and pads along the hallway.

‘Mrs Saunders?’ A policeman and policewoman are standing there, blocking the light; the man has his foot up on the porch step, thumbs hooked either side of his padded vest.

Maddy’s mouth opens but she doesn’t speak. Instead she grips the door handle a little tighter.

‘PC Dolan and this is PC Wright. May we come in?’

Maddy stands aside. Their shoes are caked in cut grass, the fresh smell unlocked by the mower earlier. The dogs sniff at the half-empty bin liner in PC Dolan’s hand.

‘If it’s about my car…’ She pushes a tendril of hair behind her ear.

He shakes his head as though she’s told a bad joke. ‘Is your husband Mr Max Saunders?’

Maddy nods. A spike of heat shoots through her head.

‘Can you tell us where he is?’ PC Wright towers over them. She stamps her feet on the mat, scattering clumps of grass across the parquet floor.

‘He works away; he’s in Buckinghamshire this week.’

Maddy follows her line of vision, where she is taking in the child-size church pew and the row of various sized shoes neatly paired underneath.

‘Poppy, Daisy, come away.’ But they continue to push their noses at the bulging bin liner. Maddy invites them in and closes the door behind them.