I rummage in the kitchen cupboards on the off chance there’s a first-aid kit for Dad’s leg, but there’s nothing. So I fill a bowl with warm water, and grab a couple of clean tea towels and some scissors from a drawer, returning to the lounge ready to cut the bottom off Dad’s trousers and do my best to stop the bleeding.

The wound is deep, and jagged, about two inches long, and as I clean it he winces in pain. ‘You’ll need stitches,’ I say, placing one of the tea towels across the wound, trying to avoid the sight of Maddie’s body, and cutting the other to hold it there. ‘For now, hold this against your leg.’

‘You should have been a nurse, love,’ he says, with a strangled smile, tears on his cheeks.

After a few moments I ask him, ‘Where did you find Maddie?’

‘At the edge of the forest, near the top of Vine Hill.’ A pause. ‘She was just lying there.’

Thomas thrusts his head into his hands. ‘Oh God, this can’t be happening.’

I brush away my tears with my sleeve, and sniff. ‘Did you see Rosamund out there?’

‘Christ! She’s not out there too, is she?’

I nod. ‘She went out to be with you and Maddie, and didn’t return. We thought you were all together. You’re sure you didn’t see her?’

He shakes his head.

‘Do you think Rosamund did this to Maddie?’ Thomas asks. He hasn’t taken his eyes off Maddie’s lifeless body for a moment.

‘Why would she? In fact, why would anyone do this to Maddie? Why would anyone kill Ruth? Abduct Elise? None of it makes any sense.’

Dad shrugs, and shakes his head once more.

And through the silence come unwanted memories of how I treated Maddie – how angry I was with her. The fact she’d said those words on her vlog, that rang in my ears after Lark disappeared.

Lark’s sister, Amelia, raced back to London to be with her partner, William, a week after the disappearance, leaving her father and disabled brother to take care of their terminally ill mother.

Maddie’s words had hit hard at the time, bringing my guilt into focus – haunting me. I should have stayed longer, helped my family cope.

‘Such a sad day,’ Maddie had said at my mum’s funeral, the first time I’d seen her since she’d posted the vlog, and I’d turned, met her red-rimmed eyes.

‘I’m so sorry, Amelia,’ she said.

‘Are you?’ I said far too loud.

She reached out to touch me, but I jolted away, spilling wine over my black jumper.

‘You OK, sis?’ Thomas had appeared by her side in his wheelchair.