Maude looked towards the telephone, which luckily for them was not in use. ‘I’ll wait here for you.’ She turned to Bonnie. ‘Thanks, you’ve been ever so helpful.’

Bonnie watched Olivia walk towards the phone. ‘I would never have been so blunt, but I didn’t think for a minute that she was looking for a close relative – she doesn’t seem the type.’

Maude gave her a grim smile. ‘You mean she seems well-to-do?’

‘Exactly. Most people who wind up in care are poor or parentless. She doesn’t strike me as either of those, and I couldn’t imagine anyone in her family fitting that description either.’

Crossing her fingers, Olivia picked up the phone and asked the operator to put her through to Brownhill. As the voice of a Scottish woman came down the receiver, Olivia’s stomach somersaulted. She quickly explained who she was and asked about the girls brought over from Greystones just after the outbreak of war.

The woman spoke cautiously. ‘We can’t give out information over the telephone. If you’d like to call in …’

‘I’m based in Shirehampton,’ Olivia explained. ‘You can’t expect me to come all the way up to Glasgow.’

There was an impatient sigh on the other end of the phone. ‘You say your daughter was brought to us on September the fourth, 1939, or thereabouts. Brownhill was under the old management back then.’

‘You’ll have their records, though,’ said Olivia, determined to get answers.

‘Well yes, but we didn’t have anything to do with the old management, and we can’t be held accountable for their actions, and …’

‘I’m not ringing to have a go,’ said Olivia, her patience beginning to wear thin. ‘I just want to know the whereabouts of my daughter, and for your information, I’m not exactly cock-a-hoop over the fact that a child of mine entered the care system, which is why I want to find her. It could well be the case that she never came to Brownhill, but if I know that, it means I can continue my search elsewhere.’ Although goodness only knows where, she added silently, knowing her options were shrinking.

‘Hang on a minute …’ The woman’s voice faded as she turned away from the phone and it was a minute or two before she spoke again. ‘I’ve spoken to my manager and we don’t possess the records that go back prior to our taking over. Because of the allegations made against Brownhill at that time, they’re still in the possession of the inspectors.’

Olivia gave a weary sigh. She didn’t know why she had expected anything different. Thanking the woman for her help, she returned to Maude and Bonnie who were looking at her expectantly. ‘No go,’ said Olivia as she sat back down.