Marty gripped the phone to his ear and tamped down the first tingling of fear. Was Lexie having a panic attack? A breakdown? Some kind of alcohol-related psychosis?

‘She’s wandered off,’ the woman sniffled down the line. ‘We can’t find her.’

‘Lexie?’

‘No, Lexie fainted.’

Marty couldn’t understand what this woman—Imogen—was trying to tell him. He imagined he was in the consult room, forced himself to stop and listen.

‘She was playing hide-and-seek. We’ve called the police.’ Imogen choked on the last word. ‘They’ll be here any minute. We’re sure Bella can’t have gone too far.’

Two police cars were parked on the grass verge. Marty gulped hard and licked his lips.

So this was playgroup—an enclave of mothers and children in a small building near Merrigang shops. The first week she’d joined, Lexie had commented to him on the safety of the equipment, the hygiene levels and the lock on the gate.

Marty pulled up the black child lock and let himself into the playground. The lock was in working order, he noted.

Through the windows, he could see inside the room. Two women were sitting in chairs, one pregnant, one holding a baby on her lap. If he could see in and they could see out, how could Bella have gone missing?

A police officer introduced himself, shook Marty’s hand firmly and propelled him back into the playground, away from the other mums and kids. Surely this pimply policeman was only fifteen years old.

‘Where are you looking for her?’ Marty demanded. ‘How many officers have you got searching?’

But before the officer could answer, Marty had leapt to the next question.

‘How could Bella get out of the playground?’

‘We’ve been advised that Mrs Parker went to the shop. Bella stayed at the playgroup with the other mums. One possibility is that the gate was left unlocked and Bella tried to follow her mother.’

What do you mean Lexie went to the shop? Marty stopped himself from asking the question out loud. She never leaves Bella with others.

The officer, whose name he’d already forgotten, told him it was ‘early days’.

‘Most children who are reported missing are found safe and sound very quickly. I’m sure we’ll find Bella in no time.’

Coming from a youth who looked like he’d only started shaving last week, the reassurance fell flat. And where was Lexie? Out searching somewhere? She would be going crazy with worry. He couldn’t have his wife and his daughter missing.

Turning his back on the police officer, Marty dialled Lexie’s number. He hoped Imogen had stayed with her. Had Lexie hurt herself when she’d fainted? Marty half expected to hear the phone ringing nearby, to find his wife collapsed in shock in the cubbyhouse or under a gum tree.

Instead, her voice came through his mobile: ‘Have you found her?’

‘Where are you?’