She sat, with the duvet pulled up around her waist, propped up against some pillows, looking at her mobile phone as if it were an alien piece of equipment. She couldn’t decide who she should call first. She knew the order didn’t really matter, but she wanted to handle the situation properly and with a sense of order. After some deliberation, she decided it would be Marion she spoke to first, since Marion had hosted the book club gathering on Thursday night, which was the last time any of them had seen Toni alive.

As she held the phone to her ear, waiting for Marion to answer, a lump formed in her throat.

‘Hello?’ Marion sounded far way.

‘Marion, hi. It’s Amy.’

‘Oh, hello, pet.’ The line crackled.

‘Sorry, Marion, but it’s not a very good line.’

‘Hang on, I’m just in the garage looking for something. I’ll move into the house. One sec.’

Amy held the line – as well as her breath. How do you tell someone that their friend has died? Could Marion and Toni even be described as friends? Questions flitted around Amy’s head as she waited to hear Marion’s voice again.

‘Is that better, pet?’ Marion’s words were now as clear as a bell.

‘Much better.’

‘What can I do for you?’

‘Well, I don’t really know how to say this, but something awful has happened.’

‘Not the baby?’ Marion gasped.

‘No, no, not the baby. It’s Toni. I’ve just spoken to Kim on the phone and, well, she’s dead.’

‘Oh, thank goodness!’ The words left Marion’s mouth before she had time to think. ‘Oh, no, I didn’t mean, I just meant, the baby, it’s good, I’m glad it’s okay. Oh my …’ Her flustered words rushed down the line.

‘Maybe you should sit down,’ Amy suggested gently. ‘It’s an awful shock, I know, I only heard myself a short while ago.’

‘Never mind me,’ Marion huffed, ‘are you sitting down? Stress is no good for pregnant women.’

‘I’m fine, Marion, honestly. I mean, it’s awful, but Toni and I were never that close.’

‘She was a difficult woman to get to know,’ Marion mused, remembering her last meeting with Toni. ‘So, do you know what happened?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, how did she die?’

‘Oh …’ Amy paused, trying to find the words to break it to her gently. ‘Well, she was murdered.’

‘Murdered?!’ Marion shouted. ‘How? When? Oh my good lord.’

‘They found her on Stourbridge Common on Friday morning,’ Amy added, shuddering at the thought.

‘The body on the common was Toni?’ Her voice had gone up a note.

‘It seems so. I don’t know any more than that. Kim saw it on the news this morning. They’ve only just released the information.’

The line was quiet, and Amy wondered if Marion had fainted or something.

‘Marion, are you there?’