‘We do have to do this,’ Lottie replied. ‘Jamie is missing and Ellie and her family are locking me out and acting like nothing has happened, and it’s making me feel like I’m going insane.’

Getting up, she made her way over to where she’d found Jamie’s note. The room felt different now. It was no longer a home of stories and mystery where she could look in the mirror and see Liliana staring back; now the room was nothing but a dark reminder of how alone she’d be if she lost her connection to the Wolfsons. She had to make sure she fixed this.

In an attempt to bring a bit of herself back into the room she reached for the velvet box in her bag and placed Liliana’s tiara under the mirror, hoping it would stop her thinking about Jamie’s awful message when she saw her reflection. It didn’t work; the tiara was not glowing like it was supposed to, and she felt like it was disappointed in her, like she was doing something wrong.

‘I’m Ellie’s Portman, and no matter what they say it’s my job to solve this, so I won’t stop until I have.’ She tried to muster some of that unstoppable force. ‘I have to for Jamie, and Ellie, and Sayuri and Saskia and Percy and everyone else Claude has hurt.’ In her mind she pictured Hanna and Midori; they were counting on her too – they’d entrusted her with the ring. With Ellie behaving as she was, it all fell on her. ‘I can’t let Claude win and take it all away from me.’

The silence that followed made Lottie squirm and she was surprised to find she was panting. She caught sight of her reflection and it felt like she was spying on someone she didn’t know.

When she turned back to Binah, her dark round eyes bore into hers, her head cocked to the side like an owl, and Lottie felt like a tiny mouse in her sights, waiting for her to make a move. She could smell the coconut body shimmer she used, and see the twinkle on her skin like gold dust.

Lottie paused before saying, ‘Let’s keep thinking.’

With a great sigh, Binah looked down at the notebook again, and Lottie thought of her tiara watching her, disappointed in something she couldn’t pin down. ‘What else might we find a clue in?’

‘I brought Oscar Oddwood’s diary back with me,’ Lottie said, wanting to get them back on track. ‘The old Wolfson Portman.’

‘And?’ Binah licked her lips now, her usual spark coming back. ‘Is there any mention of Alexis?’

Swallowing, Lottie shrugged. ‘All I could find is a throwaway line about a banquet they had to honour him in the nineteenth century, and he only mentioned it because it was the setting of some palace gossip.’