She went back downstairs, made herself another cup of tea and rang Hailey. Best to do it while she was all fired up, otherwise it would get put off and she’d never get to the bottom of whatever was bothering the girls. It seemed to be Amelia’s problem, and Sophia was trying to help her sort it out. Or was she making assumptions? The two girls were so different, it was hard to know. Sophia had a hard exterior and a soft centre, and Amelia was more sensitive, wore her heart on her sleeve.

After a few rings, Hailey’s voicemail answered. Sara was about to leave a message, then decided that she probably wasn’t in the right frame of mind. It would come out all wrong. Like an accusation. Better to wait until Thursday. They’d have plenty of time to chat at football practice, and Hailey was less likely to get in a tizzy if there were other parents around. She nodded to herself. It was only two days away. Not long, and in the meantime, she’d keep a closer eye on the girls, see if she could find out what the problem really was.

She went into the lounge to watch TV while she waited for Matt to come in, but when the ten o’clock news began, her eyes started to close, tiredness engulfing her. She’d never imagined that working full-time would be so hard. In her mind it was a mental challenge, something she was desperate for, but she’d overlooked the sheer physical effort of getting three kids up and ready for school, feeding them, doing all the laundry and the shopping, keeping the house in some semblance of order and sorting out childcare when Matt couldn’t do it.

Thank goodness it’s only for a month, she thought as she turned off the TV and dragged herself up to bed. There was still no sign of Matt.

As she lay staring at the ceiling – the house still and quiet – she heard the murmur of conversation drift in through the open window. It sounded like it was coming from right underneath it, although it couldn’t be, because their house stood back from the road. A tinkling laugh. Just like the one she’d heard coming from the garage earlier.

Sound travels at night, she told herself, but she was wide awake now, ears straining to hear every sound. The click of heels, the clink of a gate opening and closing. That’s our gate. She was sure of it – the weird clang it made – and she clambered out of bed, rushed to the window and peeked out, but there was nobody to be seen in the darkness of the night.

The back door thumped shut. That couldn’t be a coincidence, Matt coming in just after someone had gone out of their gate.