Not a work-related emergency then. Not work-related at all by the sounds of it, her voice had that flirty, throaty tone to it. I frown, turning the phone over in my hand. Is Fran right after all? Is Dominic seeing someone else, or have I just got caught up in Fran’s paranoia? And does that mean Dominic had something to do with Laurel disappearing that night? After all, he wasn’t where he said he would be, and although he told me he’d told the police where he was I don’t know for definite that he did. And he asked me not to tell Fran. And what about the hair on the jacket? Does it belong to this mystery woman, or is it Laurel’s? And does that mean the psychic isn’t a fraud – Dominic really does know something?

I lay the phone back down on Laurel’s bed where Dominic can find it and pull the door to Laurel’s room gently closed. All this time, all these days have passed and all I have are questions, and yet more questions. No answers.

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 15

The following day, I text Jessika and arrange to meet her and Daisy at the park, needing a bit of space to clear my head after the psychic’s visit. I slip quietly out of the back gate and along the alley behind the houses – there are still a few press lurking at the bottom of the cul-de-sac, having moved on slightly after Kelly threatened to arrest them, but they won’t leave completely, not until something breaks.

‘Hey.’ Jess smiles at me, bundled up against the cold in a thick puffa jacket and bobble hat. ‘How are things?’ She pushes Daisy on the swing, the little girl squealing and laughing as her feet fly over the soft, spongy safety mat underneath.

‘Well, she’s still not home.’ Aware that I am snippy, I try and smile. ‘It’s awful. The atmosphere is just . . .’ I puff my fringe away from my face. ‘Fran got a psychic in, you know.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Jess slows the swing to a stop and Daisy jumps off, running towards the slide. ‘Everyone has been talking about it.’

‘Really?’ I frown in confusion. ‘How did they know? I mean, I expected everyone to be talking about George Snow, that was in the paper. But not this. Who told you?’

‘It was in the paper, though,’ Jess says, quietly. ‘Front page of The Oxbury Echo. “PARENTS CALL IN ACCLAIMED PSYCHIC.” That kind of thing.’

‘Shit.’ I sink down on to the damp, mossy bench on the edge of the playground. ‘Dominic will go crazy. He didn’t want her to come in in the first place. What did the article say?’