Tor watches Claire blush and pat her hair self-consciously. She always forgets how people react when Lotte shines her light on them. It’s pretty intense.

‘I hate the grey.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with grey, but why be grey? Unless you’re a statement grey. Why not go blonde?’

‘I used to be blonde. Years ago, in my twenties. I really should think about it before I make a drastic change.’

‘No, darling. No, you must be impulsive,’ Lotte insists. ‘The universe has brought you here to me and I intend to fulfil my purpose.’

Claire relents and Tor lets Lotte whisk her away upstairs to the bathroom and she takes Maddy outside.

‘I love those,’ Maddy says, nodding to the lights strung up in the trees. She puts another log on the fire pit and sparks fly up as Tor and Maddy sit down on the sofas Lotte made out of pallets and bean bags.

Looking up at the back of the house, Tor can see Lotte and Claire in the bathroom, Lotte standing behind Claire by the sink. She’ll be doing one of her ‘consultations’ in the bathroom mirror. She feels a pang of guilt. Poor Claire is bound to be bamboozled by Lotte into a completely new look.

‘What are you doing for Easter?’ Maddy asks.

‘I’ve had the summons to my sister’s.’

‘Are you going to go?’

‘There’s no choice,’ she says. ‘You?’

She shrugs. ‘Not sure yet. Trent keeps saying he want to see me, so I guess I’ll have to go home and face the music.’

‘What about Matteo?’ she asks.

‘What about Matteo?’ She rolls her eyes.

‘Still nothing?’

‘Nada. I think I’ve missed that boat.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,’ Tor says.

‘He’s been away this week. I hadn’t realised that I’d miss him so much.’

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, if it wasn’t for the fact that I fancy him. And I know it’s ridiculous because I’m latching on to him, because he’s near. Because I’m a desperate, lonely old lady.’

A lonely old lady hardly describes Maddy, thinks Tor, who manages to look cool no matter what she does.

‘If you suspect there’s a spark there, then why not act on it? See what happens?’

Maddy sighs. ‘Because I don’t know if I can trust my instincts any more. This whole thing with Helen has made me really second-guess myself about everything, you know? Because I thought my friends were my friends, but they were all lying to me. It’s been so refreshing to meet you lot and to just be myself.’

They chat easily and then the subject of Jamie comes up. Tor knew it would. Maddy’s been in touch with the contact of Lotte’s – a private detective, who she’s paying to try and find Jamie. She says she’s using the fund that she set up for Jamie’s education to pay for it. The last pot of money, as she describes it. Maddy has always come across as so affluent, so it’s a surprise to Tor that she’s struggling so much to make ends meet. Tor really hopes the detective works out, and it’s worth it, but annoyingly there have been no leads so far.