‘Well. That went off with a bang.’ Shirley’s eyes twinkled with joy.

‘She’s a mess.’ Toni ran her hand through her hair and tried to look unflustered. ‘She needs to get a hold of herself.’

‘Those poor kids,’ Janet whistled through her nicotine-stained teeth.

‘You can hardly talk!’ Toni curled her lip.

‘What does that mean?’ Janet hissed.

‘Living in that grotty flat, above the bookies. Your kid doesn’t ever see his father. You probably don’t even know who his father is!’

The room fell silent as Janet got to her feet. Her skinny, hunched frame was shaking, and Shirley held out a hand to offer her friend some support.

‘Well, at least I have a kid. No one would be daft enough to get you pregnant.’ Her small, pale eyes were in thin slits and she spat as she spoke.

At that moment, the women were briefly distracted from their argument when they heard raised voices coming from the hallway.

‘This meeting,’ Toni said, standing up and gripping her handbag, ‘is over.’

But before she had a chance to storm out, Marion appeared with Amy and Maggie.

‘What have we missed?’ Maggie smiled, entering the room, but as soon as she acknowledged the atmosphere her mood changed.

‘What’s happened?’ Amy asked, her face pale and her green eyes wide.

2

1.40pm 22 June

Barbara sat in her favourite armchair and put on the local lunchtime news. Bramble, her scraggy looking moggy, jumped onto her lap and made itself at home.

On the small table next to her, was a cup of tea and a cheese sandwich. It was the same thing Barbara ate for lunch every single day; she was a creature of habit. Occasionally, if she were feeling naughty, she would collect the crumbs of cheese on her plate and feed them to the cat, who was ever hopeful for the treat.

Outside her small council house her other cat, Rosebud, sat sunning herself on the windowsill. She was by far the more independent of the two felines.

After the summer storms of the past few days, the weather had cleared up and Cambridge was drenched in warm June sunshine, which Barbara welcomed. She hadn’t been able to sleep well due to the humidity, and was relieved that the air was now lighter and the temperature more bearable.

Reaching for the remote control, she turned on the television in anticipation of watching the news and getting the latest weather report. On the screen, a pointy-nosed redhead appeared, sitting with her back straight, looking down the lens.

‘Good afternoon. Welcome to Anglia News. These are the headlines: police have confirmed that the body of a woman was discovered in the early hours of this morning, on Stourbridge Common in Cambridge. The death is being treated as suspicious and the victim has not been named. A forensic tent has been erected and police have cordoned off the area. In other news …’