‘Yes, I had a letter. But I didn’t read it all,’ Lizzie admitted.

‘Maybe you should, then. You’d be able to find out where he is through the solicitor, too. He might be at the other end of the country and we’re all worrying for nothing.’

‘Fair point. But I have this gut feeling – I can’t explain it. I was drawn here, like I knew deep down he was here, waiting for me.’

‘Did you never visit him in prison?’

‘God, no! He wrote some letters that were passed on to me through the solicitor, but I haven’t set eyes on him since I was taken away from him.’ Lizzie shot Muriel a sideways glance. She had her head down, looking at her hands in her lap.

‘Social services took you into their care?’ Anna said, her face softening. It was the pity look Lizzie always managed to elicit when talking about her removal into care.

‘Yep. Accusations of neglect made them decide he wasn’t a fit parent.’ Lizzie didn’t go into more detail, certainly didn’t want to repeat what Rob had said about sexual abuse. That was something she suspected had evolved from village gossip, and despite the mention of it as she was growing up, she’d pushed it to the back of her mind.

‘What about your mother?’

‘Dead, as you know.’

‘Oh, yes. Sorry. Do you … well, remember much about it, like how he …’ Anna stumbled over her words.

Lizzie cut in, helping her out. ‘Do I remember how he treated me, you mean?’ No one ever really knew how to talk to her once they found out the reason behind the authority’s decision and she didn’t like talking about it because it might mean she had to face up to the possibility he really had abused her. ‘No. I barely remember a thing from that time. Snippets of broken memories, that’s all. I suppose I remember the feeling I had, though. It lasted for many years. Like a heaviness, as though there were something sitting inside my stomach. And I sensed a darkness: I could almost reach out and touch it, it was so tangible. And something else …’

‘What else?’ Anna asked.

‘A missing link, or something that was present but which didn’t fit. I’ve never been able to distinguish which. I know it’s important, but don’t know how, or why.’ Lizzie looked up into Muriel’s eyes, then back to Anna. She caught the confusion in her expression. Or maybe it was discomfort. Perhaps they both thought her unhinged. ‘It’s very hard to put into words. I suppose what I’m saying is, I’m the one who has to put it all together. I know it. Like an incomplete jigsaw, I have to find the missing pieces and make it whole. And once I do, I can move on. And every fibre in my being tells me it’s here,’ Lizzie said, flinging both arms wide as she cast her gaze around her before allowing it to settle back on Anna. ‘Here in Mapledon is where it began, and where it must end.’ Even to herself, she sounded like a crazed fortune-teller.