I turn back to the kitchen, leaving them with my revelation, my thumb stinging like crazy, and move closer to the window. Outside, trees are almost masked by the heavy snowfall, and I lift onto my toes and lean over the counter, my nose touching the glass. I see faces everywhere; faces I know aren’t there, but still scare me. I drag down the blind, my whole body trembling.

It takes a while before I’m still, and calm enough to make hot drinks. But once I’ve managed it, I bring the tray through to the lounge with a bowl of sugar and a jug of milk, and place it on the coffee table. And as everyone thanks me, I kneel down on the floor close to the burner.

We sip our drinks in silence, all deep in our own thoughts, until the shrill sound of a phone ringing pierces the quiet. It’s coming from Rosamund’s pocket. She pulls it out, eyes wide with shock as she looks at the screen. ‘It’s Neil,’ she whispers. ‘How the hell have I got a signal?’ She presses the phone to her ear, and takes a breath. ‘Neil?’ A beat. ‘Calm down, please, we’ll find her, I know we will.’

‘Put him on speaker,’ Dad says, his tone assertive, and Rosamund does as he says, and places her phone on the table.

‘The police said you’re stuck up there,’ Neil is saying through a crackle on the line, talking fast, his voice tense.

My mind darts back to just before Mum died, when she gave me a letter to post to him, but the thought evaporates as he goes on.

‘They said Elise is missing, and Ruth’s been murdered.’ We all stare down at the phone, and even though we can barely make out his words, I hear he’s close to tears.

‘We’ll find her, Neil,’ Rosamund says. ‘We think she could be hiding …’

Silence drags on the line for a moment, before he continues. ‘What are you doing in the highlands of Scotland, anyway, Rosamund? Elise should be at school. Christ!’

Rosamund leans forward, her arm embracing her stomach, tears rolling down her face. ‘I had to come, Neil. And I didn’t tell you, because I knew you wouldn’t understand. But Elise did. She said she wanted to come too.’

‘But she loves school, Rosamund.’ The line buzzes and crackles. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’

‘I don’t know. I’m so sorry.’

‘I can’t hear you – speak up,’ he says, raising his voice. ‘The line’s dreadful.’

‘Elise understood I wanted closure, Neil.’ Rosamund turns, her eyes meeting mine, as she dashes tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. ‘She knew I needed to see Robert and Amelia and Thomas. How I needed their forgiveness.’