After a few seconds of silent anticipation, Matilda turned fractionally to her left while moving her right arm in the same direction, and when he got up on tiptoe, he could see the pointer on the board underneath their fingertips.

‘An A,’ Matilda said. ‘See. She does want to answer.’

‘But who in your family has a name that starts with an A?’

‘Mum… Her middle name’s actually Antonia…’

He could tell Matilda was on the verge of falling apart, so he decided to step in and end the séance, but before he could act, he saw the pointer actually moving across the board.

‘An L,’ Matilda exclaimed. ‘See?’

It looked like it was moving quickly.

‘Then it can’t be Mum.’

‘And now another L,’ Esmaralda said. ‘Could it be someone else’s middle name?’

‘Not that starts with ALL. Something’s not right. Greta, are you spelling out a name, or—’

‘Wait, there’s more,’ Esmaralda cut in.

So quickly they seemed hard-pressed to keep up.

‘YOU,’ Matilda said. ‘ALL YOU? What does she mean by that?’

He could hear the pointer was still zooming across the board and if the girls were to be believed, it was spelling out intelligible words.

‘ALL YOU KNOW,’ Matilda exclaimed. What does she mean, ALL YOU KNOW?’

‘You have to calm down. You’re just making her cross.’

‘Greta, can you please just answer my question? Is someone in my family still going to die, or did you make a mistake?’

‘Matilda, have you forgotten what happened last time? When you broke all the rules and—’

‘But something’s not right. She’s not answering and I have to—’

‘The only thing you have to do is listen to me! I’m leading this séance, not you! See, she’s not done. Are you paying attention? An I. And an S. I’m guessing it’s IS.’

‘ALL YOU KNOW IS,’ Matilda said and Fabian could see her shaking her head. ‘I don’t get it. Do you?’

Esmaralda shushed her. ‘W, R, O, N and a G.’

‘WRONG,’ they said in unison. ‘ALL YOU KNOW IS WRONG.’

They waited for the pointer to keep moving, but it didn’t.

‘Greta, if you’re done, would you mind explaining what you mean?’ Matilda said.

‘Maybe we misunderstood last time. Maybe that’s what she’s trying to tell us.’

‘What do you mean, misunderstood? There was nothing to misunderstand. I’m telling you, something’s not right here. She said, I know she said, someone in my—’

‘But did she? What if we just—’

‘Esma, don’t even. You know as well as I do what she said. Hello? Greta, are you still there? Are you still with us?’

They waited, but nothing happened. The pointer had stopped.

All you know is wrong.