‘I’m just on my way out. I’ll speak to you soon.’ He just managed to get all the words out before he slammed down the phone. The vultures were circling, he could sense it, and it left him feeling uneasy.

Leaving the dark bedroom, he returned to the living room where he found the Family Liaison Officer who had been assigned to the case, sitting in a chair reading a book. She looked up at him and offered a sympathetic smile.

‘I thought perhaps you were sleeping.’ She closed the book and put it on the table next to her, just like his wife would have done.

‘No.’ He felt parched and longed for a glass of water.

‘Gerald, I have something to tell you. Forensics have been in touch and they have confirmed the body on the common is that of your wife. I am truly sorry.’ She stood and watched him as he sat down slowly on the small, white, faux leather sofa.

‘She’s gone then.’ His eyes were wide and fixed on the picture of them on their wedding day.

‘I’m afraid so.’ The officer put her hand on his back. She could feel his shirt was damp with sweat and he could feel the heat radiating from her palm.

‘What am I going to do with myself now?’ Gerald turned to face her and searched her hazel eyes, but found no answers.

This was the worst part of her job, and Julie could not wait to get home to her husband to hug him and their son tight.

5

8.40am 23 June

After dealing with her six-year-old twin daughters, May and June, who were born hours apart as 31 May became 1 June, Kim waved them goodbye as they left for gym class with their father. She tidied the mess of breakfast plates and turned her attention to Dylan, her eighteen-month-old son.

‘Who’s going to be a good boy for Mummy today?’ she said, reaching into a drawer and removing a packet of cigarettes, while Dylan sat in his highchair rubbing banana into the tray.

The chaotic kitchen had doors leading out to the garden, and, while Dylan was busy making a mess, she slipped out to have a cigarette, still keeping an eye on him.

It was colder that morning than it had been the past week, and she wished she had a cardigan for her shoulders. The sky was grey and still. It didn’t look likely that the barbeque they had planned for lunch would go ahead.

Kim puffed furiously on her cigarette, wanting to make it back into the house in time to watch the morning news. She liked to keep abreast of what was going on in the world. She had an interest in people and politics and was an avid news follower.