In the principal’s office, Caruso heard a different perspective on Fox. He suspected that the girl had sat in this chair many, many times.

‘Fox has behavioural issues,’ Patricia Campbell told him. ‘She has run away from school on numerous occasions.’

‘But she was definitely here last Monday?’

‘Yes. That’s correct. She normally catches a bus. The driver said she didn’t get on the bus that afternoon.’

‘Does Fox have any friends whose houses she might go to?’

‘Let me get the class roll from Kathleen.’

The principal went out to the front office. Caruso could hear snippets of her conversation with the staff. The community was already devastated by Bella’s disappearance. Another one would send families into a mad panic. He had to resolve this quickly. Was the girl actually missing or not?

‘Right.’ Patricia Campbell positioned her reading glasses on the end of her nose and squinted down at the list. She ran her finger down each name.

‘Mm, Fox doesn’t really have a lot of friends. But Chloe Fleming is always kind to her.’

‘Chloe Fleming,’ Caruso echoed. ‘What’s her mother’s name?’

‘Julia. Lovely lady. She helps out regularly at school.’

Julia Fleming. The organiser from Bella’s playgroup.

‘Could we ask their teacher to join us?’ Caruso asked. ‘The teacher can tell me a bit more about Fox’s routines.’

As Caruso waited for the principal to answer, he had a niggling memory related to Julia’s older daughter. Something about her teacher. He’d have to check his notes.

The principal took off her glasses, rubbed her eyes and frowned at him. Her voice wasn’t quite steady when she finally spoke.

‘I’m afraid he’s on sick leave. The girls’ teacher is Brendan Parrish.’

43 LEXIE

43

LEXIE

I WAS WOKEN BY THE SOUND OF THE FRONT DOOR SLAMMING, followed by the car starting up. Was Marty off to check in with the police at playgroup? Lying in Bella’s bed, in that haze between sleeping and waking, I remembered taking my little girl into my arms in the middle of the night and cuddling her back to sleep. But, no, I was alone with Bella’s pillow clutched against me. I patted the doona looking for any Lulu-shaped lumps, then leant down to peek under the bed. Had the police taken Lulu and Dora in their search?

Yesterday I’d been so angry with Caruso for searching our house when they should have been out there trying to find Bella. But now it occurred to me that they might suspect Marty too. Did the police think they’d find the matching shoe in our house? For all those years, I’d been blaming myself for everything that had happened. Lost in a fog of self-loathing when it might not have been my fault after all … If my husband was responsible for Archie’s death and Bella’s disappearance, I had to know.