‘Right. Did you see Josh at the house when you picked up Tara?’

‘Josh? No. He would have been at work by then.’

‘Did you see him come into playgroup on Thursday?’

‘No. What was he doing there? Why wasn’t he at work?’ Julia harrumphed. ‘Those two, honestly. They don’t seem to understand the concept of working to pay the bills.’

So Josh had stayed out of sight; only Mel had seen him.

‘How well do you know the other mums?’

‘I was at school with Imogen; she’s the sweetest friend you could have. It was nice we had kids at the same time, but I wanted some quieter playmates for Morgan. That’s why I set up the playgroup.’ Julia let out a quick laugh. ‘Well, actually, I wanted some playmates for me, too!’

Caruso had heard his sister complain about being lonely at home when the kids were younger, which meant his mum had decided to go and stay with her. A playgroup sounded better. A time each week to catch up with other mums while the kids played.

‘And how well do you know the other mums?’

‘Tara is married to my husband’s cousin, so I invited her along. She’s lots of fun but a bit wild. Sometimes Tara should stop and think before she speaks.’

The detective nodded for her to continue.

‘Lexie joined about six months ago and Mel not long after her. Lexie’s older than the rest of us and Mel’s younger, but we all get along. Mel has so much energy and is great with kids. She looks after Morgan when I’m at work. We did make sure that she wasn’t an anti-vaxxer—she’s from Byron Bay, you see. That area has one of the worst immunisation rates in Australia.’

‘And Lexie?’

‘We all like her. Tara thinks she looks down on us because she’s lived in Sydney and England, but I don’t think so. She’s quieter than everyone else. Oh my God, I can’t believe this has happened.’

Caruso categorised Julia as one of those people who was always certain about things, whether it was toilet training a child or setting up filing systems at work or the intricacies of a friendship. She led an unambiguous life.

Suze began asking about the photo shoot with the schoolteacher.

‘Brendan Parrish is my daughter’s teacher. He’d been telling me about his photography and I asked if he’d like to do our playgroup.’

‘Right. So has Mr Parrish been to the playgroup since then?’

‘No. And the photos were taken on the ridge, so he never came to the playgroup at all. But he has a Working with Vulnerable People card, of course, because he’s a teacher. I wouldn’t have invited a stranger to photograph our kids.’

‘Of course not,’ Suze agreed. ‘And did Mr Parrish see Lexie and Bella again after that?’