‘It’s so awful isn’t it?’ Her voice is shaky, her eyes shimmering, and it hits me how young she is, how far away from her home in America. She might not be my favourite person, but I feel desperately sorry for her. I touch her arm, and she tries to smile.

‘We’ll be OK, Maddie,’ I say, but they’re words I don’t really believe. ‘We just need to stay together, that’s all. Whoever is doing this can’t touch us then.’

We stand for some time in suffocating silence. Waiting. ‘Rosamund’s been a while, hasn’t she?’ I say, looking up the stairs, and Maddie gives a nervous nod. ‘Maybe I should check on her.’

My heartbeat quickens as I move across the room, and stop at the foot of the stairs. I open my mouth to call Rosamund’s name, but something stops me. What if someone’s up there? I look about me, spotting two walking sticks propped against the wall. I grab one.

‘Should we get the others?’ Maddie asks, but I’m already gingerly climbing the stairs. ‘Amelia, you just said we should stick together,’ she calls after me.

Once on the landing, I try not to let my eyes stray, but the sweet metallic smell of Ruth’s blood makes me gag.

Rosamund’s bedroom door stands open, and I step towards it and peer around the door. I grab my chest. ‘Thank God,’ I say, letting out a breath when I see Rosamund’s sitting on the edge of the bed. She’s holding something in her hand. It looks like the scan of her baby, and I see she’s crying.

‘Rosamund,’ I say, approaching, and she looks up. ‘Are you OK?’

She shoves the photo in the holdall beside her.

‘Yes. I’m fine.’ She dries her cheeks on her sleeve. ‘I was just thinking about Elise, that’s all.’ She rises, takes a deep breath, and looks around her. ‘That’s odd,’ she says. ‘My bed jacket is missing.’

‘Is it in your case?’

Her forehead furrows. ‘No, it was at the bottom of my bed.’

‘Do you need it?’

She shrugs. ‘I guess not.’ She zips up her holdall, and pushes past me, heading onto the landing.

I follow, and as we head down the stairs, I notice Maddie is standing by the coffee table, staring down at the half-played Monopoly game. She leans over and picks up a counter. By the time I reach her side, she’s rolling the token around in her hand, trancelike.

‘Are you OK?’ I ask her, as Rosamund approaches.

She slips the counter into her pocket.

‘Maddie?’ I say.

‘Sorry, yes, yes, I’m fine.’ She heads towards the door. ‘We should get back,’ she says opening the door, and we step into the snow once more.

‘Actually, I desperately need a cigarette,’ Maddie says as we reach Bluebell Cottage.