Back in the precinct, Maddy marches past the chemist and glimpses a man in profile. Could it be? She’s unable to look away. He is talking to an elderly woman who has a terrier on a string. The man’s face turns a fraction towards her. The likeness to Max is uncanny. Can it really be him? Two days ago she’s certain she saw him at the petrol station, and the day before that at the supermarket. In fact, he’s everywhere she looks. Is he a ghost come back to haunt her? She leans into the pram, pretending to fuss with Sam’s blankets, wishing Max away. If he comes any closer, she’ll struggle to control herself; although part of her wants to forgive him, she’ll want to shake the life out of him for what he’s done. When she’s sure he’s gone, her body relaxes, she straightens up and pushes the pram towards home.

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Alison: December 2019

When the police car pulls up outside the house, Alison strains to watch from the bedroom window. Can it really be him? She didn’t think they would be here so soon. A man dips his head to get out of the car. He is wearing a short raincoat, despite the mild weather. His hair covers the tops of his ears and there are white threads running through it. She doesn’t like the goatee beard. The doorbell rings but she doesn’t move. What will she say? Jamie opens the door.

‘Daddy!’ she hears him cry. Jamie calls out to her. Her chest tightens. She pauses, touches the side of the empty crib. At the top of the stairs, everything is swimming in front of her. She grips the newel post. It’s as though she’s staring into a pit, with four faces staring up at her. No one speaks. She glances down at her stupid bunny slippers. The man is standing there, studying her with half-moon eyes, his face full of shadows. Jamie with his arm around him, beaming.

‘Ali, it’s me,’ he calls, putting a foot on the bottom stair.

She wipes her face on her sleeve. ‘Where have you been?’ her voice is so small and cracked she wonders if he can hear her, he seems so far away. She says it again, and this time her voice is lost completely and her legs buckle. And then she is falling, down, down, down the stairs towards him. Miraculously, he jumps forward and catches her and helps her back on her feet. As soon as she is standing, she struggles with him, thumping him with her fists. ‘Where’s my baby?’ she screams.

Adam backs away.

PC Blunt intervenes, helping her sit on a step. ‘Are you okay?’ the policewoman asks.

‘What have you done with my baby?’ Alison sobs.

‘Calm down now, that’s it, take it slowly,’ PC Blunt says.