‘Of course. Anna?’ Fran looks at me, and I fumble in my pocket for the door key, avoiding Wright’s eye as she registers that Fran still calls me Anna. Pushing open the door I stand to one side to let them both in, following behind them as they head into the living room. Wright stands until Fran gestures to her to take a seat. There is a strangely formal air in the room.

‘Dominic isn’t home yet,’ Fran says, a slight frown creasing her brow. It’s been too long between botox injections. ‘Maybe we should wait for him. Anna, what do you think?’

I look to DS Wright, who gives a slight shake of her head, and say nothing.

‘Mrs Jessop, Fran, there’s something I need to tell you,’ DS Wright says, shadows from the now lit lamp flickering across her face. ‘Dominic won’t be coming home. Not tonight. Not for a while, I should think.’

Something crosses Fran’s face, an emotion that I can’t put a name to before it is gone again, her features blank and smooth as she waits for Wright to go on. The only thing that truly belies her feelings is the way her fingers knit tightly together, what’s left of her bitten fingernails digging into the backs of her hands.

‘What’s going on?’ she asks, quietly, but I know. I know exactly what DS Wright is here to say.

‘Fran . . . we’ve charged Dominic with the abduction of your daughter, Laurel.’

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 23

I watch Fran as she blinks twice, slowly, her hands falling to her sides before she lowers herself into a nearby chair. She raises her hands to her mouth briefly, and I see her fingers shaking as she brings her hands back into her lap. I can feel my pulse thudding hard in my temple, and I wonder if Fran’s heart is galloping the way mine is.

‘Dominic?’ Fran says, her eyes never leaving Wright’s face. She gives a small nod and glances towards me, and I remember our conversation in the cemetery, when I wanted to tell her about the hair on his jacket, the suspicions I was harbouring about exactly where Dominic was the night Laurel disappeared.

‘I’m sorry, Fran.’ Wright nods her head towards Kelly, who stands to one side in the doorway. At her gesture she rushes forward and stoops down next to Fran, clasping her pale, lifeless fingers in her hand.

‘Don’t fuss over me,’ Fran snaps, shaking her fingers free and getting to her feet. As she begins to pace she looks at me, shaking a finger in my direction. ‘You had an idea this was coming, didn’t you, Anna?’