‘Indeed,’ said Bloom, while thinking, Oh, this is definitely to do with the game.

19

‘So what’s the deal?’ Jameson was halfway through a ham and cheese baguette and there was a pint of squash on his desk.

‘Any luck with Jane’s father?’ Bloom asked. She’d been poking holes in her theory all the way back to London, but without any luck. Even if she hadn’t voiced it aloud yet, she knew it was true.

‘No. Jane’s not even sure of his surname. It’s a needle-in-haystack thing.’ He didn’t elaborate any further.

Bloom sighed, took off her coat and sat down. Jameson said nothing. He knew how to make her talk.

She took a deep breath. ‘Faye Graham went home to kill her husband and children. I don’t have evidence that she was there for the children too, but I’m confident that was her intention. She stabbed their father, then chased them upstairs with a knife. She only stopped when her daughter waved a tiger at her and growled.’

‘Sure, that sounds likely to stop a psychopath,’ said Jameson.

Bloom said nothing.

Jameson looked at her and his eyes widened. ‘You’re joking. You think Faye is a psychopath?’

‘Four people go missing. They’ve nothing in common, but they seem to be playing the same game. But why? Who would do that? Certainly not a doting fiancé and prospective dad, or the loving mother of two small children. A student might be daft enough, but the others? It would take a special set of circumstances. Or a certain kind of person.’

‘No. Surely not. You’re not suggesting they’re all …’

‘Stuart was the perfect partner. Grayson the successful son. Lana the flawed but courageous single mother. And Faye the talented accountant. But dig a bit deeper and they’re all facades. Stuart was a bully, Grayson a dropout, Lana a liar, and Faye was vile.’

‘And how is that different to the rest of us? You’re a successful psychologist but a social disaster. I’m charming company but a career dropout. People are good and bad. That’s what you’re always saying to me. Faye might well have been out to kill her whole family, and that might mean she’s psychopathic, but that doesn’t mean the rest of them are.’

‘You mean Lana?’

‘Yes. I mean Lana.’

Bloom rested her hands on the desk in front of her, and then spoke softly. ‘From what you know of Lana, would you say she showed a degree of irresponsibility?’

‘You know I would, but—’

‘How about a willingness to live off others? Rely on her daughter to keep house, for example, or on friends to raise her child?’

‘Well OK—’

‘Would you describe her as impulsive or easily bored?’

Jameson frowned. ‘Sometimes. Claire would probably say so.’

‘How about failing to take responsibility for her actions, or lying repeatedly?’

Jameson said nothing.