‘No, I meant like a long-term condition?’

‘Gosh, not that I know of. I suppose she might have had something Mary didn’t mention … Where’s all this coming from?’

‘Just research. Things I found online about kids who might be Lily.’

‘But darling, if the police can’t find out what happened to her, you’ll hardly find it on the internet.’

‘I know. Just an itch I need to scratch, to help feel more settled in the new house. I’d better go, I’m at Dr Kinsella’s now.’

She says goodbye as I find a parking spot just opposite Kinsella House. I’m early and wondering if there’s time to call Cora or Fran, though perhaps it’s better to ask them in person. The irony doesn’t escape me. If there’s anywhere I should be able to figure things out, it’s here, tonight, right inside this building. I sit staring at it. The three-storey, flat-roof complex; so modern, I imagine, when it was first designed. Now, surrounded by taller, glossier blocks of offices and apartments, Kinsella House looks dated. I force myself to get out of the car, conscious, as always, of the paradox: it’s a struggle to make myself turn up here, and yet I can’t stay away. Week in, week out, the same internal discord. Anyway. I’m here now and she’s expecting me. I lock the car and cross Woodbine Street towards the main door. Yes, this is exactly where I should be able to sort it all out. But for now, that’s a step too far.

On Wednesday morning, when I come back from the school run, Fran is in her garden, deadheading roses.

‘Hi, Fran, I’m glad I caught you. I’m still mulling over the whole Lily Murphy thing and I was wondering if you could help me with a few questions?’

Fran stops. ‘What kind of questions?’

‘Did anyone have a nickname for Lily?’

‘Ha. I used to call her Liliput. I forgot about that.’ She squints in the sunlight. ‘And Mary used to call her Lilybug, which made me cringe back then. I don’t know why. Teenagers are so judgy. No idea if anyone else had a nickname for her though.’

‘Did anyone call her Lila?’

Fran shakes her head. ‘Not that I remember … But I wouldn’t have thought “Lila” was a nickname for “Lily”?’

‘True. And was Lily ill at all – any health conditions?’

‘I’m sure she was sick from time to time but nothing that stands out.’ Fran picks up a rake and begins dragging it through a patch of brown grass. ‘What’s with all the questions?’

‘Something I saw online … speculation about a child some random commenter had seen. He thought she had a long-term illness that required medication and the parents were calling her Lila, and she had dimples like Lily and—’

‘Ah, come on. Dimples and a name that’s not even Lily? Sure plenty of children have dimples. There must have been some other reason this internet person thought the child was Lily?’