It must’ve been her father who’d placed a strip of her clothing inside the doll’s head. But why? Lizzie had been working on the understanding that Billy was trying to show he was innocent of Jonie Hayes’ abduction and murder. And maybe show who he thought was really responsible. But Lizzie couldn’t understand what relevance bloodstained clothing of hers had to any of it.

For a split second, a horrifying thought had crossed her mind. Had she been there? Had she been present when Jonie Hayes had been killed?

She’d shaken her head, taken deep breaths. No, of course she hadn’t. She’d already been taken into care by that time. The red stain could be her own blood, or dye. Nothing to do with Jonie. Hearing Rob’s story and holding the piece of her clothing had unsettled her and her mind was jumping. She had to keep emotion out of it, think logically.

Now, in the cold light of day, having only had small snatches of sleep, Lizzie opened her laptop. Dom had woken early and had showered and gone for a walk around the gardens of the B&B to ‘take in the country air’. She’d avoided getting into a conversation with him. Her mind was too full – she needed peace to get her head together. Lizzie started reading through the notes in the files she’d made on each person of interest. Somewhere in there could be a link to the missing piece of the puzzle. The photographs on the wall in Rob’s house were also on her mind. May Day. Tina Hayes watching as Jonie danced around the maypole. Billy Cawley standing beside her, shoulder-to-shoulder.

If she could bear to see Rob again, it would be good to take a closer look at the photos, and to ask Nell if she had any more from that time. By searching the old photos she might gain the truth, find out what the villagers of Mapledon were hiding. Lizzie picked up her mobile to compose a text to Rob. A stream of pings sounded. She frowned. That was an awful lot of notifications since last checking it. The signal came and went, though, so it was likely a load of messages had suddenly filtered through all together. She scrolled through them to see if there was anything pressing to deal with. All seemed non-urgent – one from the editor who’d commissioned the Billy Cawley piece needed answering, but the others could wait.

Then one caught her attention. Anna had texted her Wednesday afternoon. There really was a delay in getting the notifications if it had taken that long to come through.

Hi Lizzie,

Just to keep you updated – we got the leg as expected. Note inside: SOMEONE KNOWS WHERE SHE IS. Have spoken to Pat Vern about it, but Mother still adamant we shouldn’t bother the police. I want to go and see Nell and Rob – thought it would make sense if we went together. Could you make tomorrow afternoon?