‘I feel awful putting on you like this,’ I go on down the phone to the girl with the pink hair. ‘Is she OK? You’re sure she’s no trouble.’ God I miss my cat.

‘She’s absolutely fine,’ the girl says. ‘Been an angel, in fact. Stay as long as you need. No worries at all.’

‘Thanks so much, I appreciate it.’ I end the call, and look over at Thomas, who has his back to me. He’s busy on his laptop at the dining-room table, working on the screenplay of a book that a film director he knew in the US has sent him. It’s good to see him trying to get back into something that resembles normal.

‘Your cat’s still OK then?’ he says, clearly having eavesdropped on my call.

‘Uh-huh.’ I move across the room towards him. ‘A tiny ray of sunshine, at least.’

‘Pretty sure you need to find out what that woman’s name is though,’ he says with a half-laugh, not looking up, his fingers dancing on the keyboard.

‘Yeah, it’s getting kind of embarrassing.’ I smile, and he mirrors it, but our smiles are weak and half-hearted. I go to turn away, and he stops typing, and grabs my hand.

‘Are you OK, sis? This has been total hell for you.’

‘For all of us, Thomas – you haven’t exactly come out of it unscathed.’ I pause for a moment, before saying again for the umpteenth time, ‘I’m so sorry about Maddie. I know I wasn’t her biggest fan, but she was so young, so full of life.’

Thomas releases my hand, and dashes fingers across his eyes, and I realise he’s changed recently – more open with his emotions.

‘I keep going over and over everything,’ he says. ‘I mean why would Maddie turn to Finn and not me? I realise I’m pretty lacking in the superhero department, but …’

‘I think she had a bit of a thing for him.’

‘Really? I didn’t notice.’

I shrug. ‘I could be wrong, of course.’

‘But who killed her and Ruth, Amelia? And who took Elise?’

‘I wish I knew.’ A beat. ‘If I’m honest, I’m still not convinced Elise was taken.’ I don’t say: I think someone killed her in the same way they killed Ruth and Maddie. ‘The thing is, we couldn’t get off the estate, could we? So how could anyone abduct her? It doesn’t make sense.’

‘Well, let’s hope the police do a better job of finding her, than they did finding Lark.’ He pauses for a moment, as though allowing the thought of our sister to seep in. ‘You know what? I still dream we’ll find Lark one day,’ he says. ‘Haven’t given up hope.’

‘Nor me,’ I say. But it’s a lie. Truth is, I have given up hope, and it breaks my heart.