‘I have a bad feeling we’re going to receive the entire doll piece by piece,’ Anna said. ‘What do you think will happen once the doll is complete?’

‘I don’t know. But only three more parts to go? Then we’ll see, I guess.’

‘Should I involve the police?’ Anna whispered, hoping Muriel wouldn’t hear her above the noise of the boiling kettle. ‘Mum really doesn’t think it’s necessary, but the more this goes on, the less inclined I am to go along with that.’

‘I honestly don’t know, Anna. I’m not sure the police can really help—’

‘Of course she doesn’t want you to involve the police, Anna. Because she is probably the one behind it all,’ Muriel said, her mouth contracted into a tight pout as she plonked two mugs in front of Anna and Lizzie.

‘Mum!’ Anna tutted. Her mother could be so rude; too direct, sometimes.

‘What? You weren’t thinking the same thing?’

‘Look, can I just remind you that you didn’t want to involve the police either, so does that mean you have something to hide too?’

It was meant as a way of closing her mother down, giving Lizzie a chance, but her reaction and Lizzie’s caused Anna to sit back. She saw a look pass between Muriel and Lizzie – each was drawing a battle line; each knew something about the other and was deciding whether they should be the one to throw the first punch.

Anna, it appeared, had been left very much in the dark about something.

‘Are either of you going to tell me what the hell is going on, please? What is it you know that I don’t?’

‘Nothing,’ Muriel stated defensively. ‘There’s nothing to tell.’

‘Bollocks.’

‘Anna! Refrain from using that language in my house.’

‘Then refrain from lying to me. I’m not having it.’

Lizzie placed her hands on the table, hard. ‘Right. It’s about time we all took some responsibility for this … this … predicament – for want of a better word – that we find ourselves in. We’re all involved, whether we like it or not. Let’s get real, and maybe we can figure out who’s doing this, and why, and put a bloody stop to it before someone gets hurt. So, Muriel – over to you. You can start, don’t you think?’

Anna’s hands felt tingly, her fingers numb. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear this. She placed both her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands. To steady herself. To prepare for whatever was about to be said.

‘I’m all ears.’

Chapter Sixty-Two

2019

Lizzie

All Lizzie could do was watch and wait to see how the situation unfolded. She didn’t really have much idea what Muriel might or might not know – but Anna seemed confident her mother knew something and, given one of Lizzie’s only childhood memories related to being brought to Muriel and Anna’s house, she was sure Anna was right. Lizzie only had one thing on Muriel – and that had come from her dad earlier on. It was ammunition, if required, but she couldn’t be certain it was true. The lines between truth and lies appeared to be blurred beyond recognition where Mapledon and its inhabitants were concerned. The toxicity of the place was beginning to take over, sinking into her like poison from a snake bite – she wondered how long it would be before it took a firm hold and dragged her down, away from her life, away from Dom.