‘Did he tell you how he came to have the coat?’

‘No, but maybe he saw her arrive home with the baby, took it out of the trash after she threw it out. Maybe he even abducted me with her… I don’t know. He’s dead now, and she’s dying as we speak.’

‘She’s dying, the woman who abducted you?’

‘Yes, they’re all by her bedside now. She got pneumonia a few days ago and has been going downhill ever since.’ I can feel tears at the back of my eyes when I say this, thinking of Mom taking her last breaths. ‘So there’s no one else to ask.’

Turner thinks about this for a minute, staring at the table in front of her.

‘Your father, did he know?’

‘Dad was away with the army at the time. I don’t think he knows anything about it.’

‘Why? Were you supposed to have been born while he was away?’

If I say yes, this could all go away. There would be no need to mention the real Rebecca Wall, tucked under the soil at the back of the yard. But she’ll check. I know she will, she will find out he was still here on the date on my birth certificate.

Looking away from her penetrating gaze, I lower my head. ‘I think there may have been an accident.’

‘An accident?’

‘Yes. I think Mom killed me, got rid of the body, and replaced me while Dad was away.’

Turner stands up. She walks around the room, her fingers twitching as she leans against the wall behind her chair. Her stare is making me feel even more nervous, so I turn my attention to the desk. I know what she’s thinking; this is unbelievable. I’m thinking it too.

‘What makes you think there was an accident, that a baby died?’

‘I have a birth certificate, photos from the hospital. A baby was born.’

‘What age was your brother when this took place?’

I pretend to do the calculation in my head. ‘Three years old, I think.’

‘You think?’

‘He could have been four, depending on what date she abducted me.’

Turner moves back to the table, pulls out the chair and sits down again.

‘Rebecca, somebody killed Katie Collins,’ she says, staring now like she’s trying to hypnotize me. ‘Someone lured her to Treehill Park using an untraceable phone. They had her number, which they probably got from the note. The note she left for you.’

I’m guessing she’s suggesting Danny, so I quickly interrupt. Danny has always been there for me, protecting me. He’s a good man who has had to live with this lie all his life. He was only a baby himself when it all happened, when his mother threatened him with jail if he told the truth. I’m not letting her accuse Danny. It’s my turn to protect him now.