Looking down at her fingers, Tara cursed herself. A large blue aquamarine in a wide silver setting.

‘It wasn’t me,’ Tara said, her cheeks flushing. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘I honestly don’t know.’

Patronising bitch, how dare she! Another mum who made it all look so easy. Tara suddenly remembered the difficulties of the early years: Imogen pushing a double pram with the twins crying. But now, now, the twins kept each other company, and next year they’d start preschool and both be out of the house for three days a week. And the twins slept—Imogen’s whole household slept through every night. Tara rubbed her eyes. She’d have to try a different tactic.

‘Imogen, why did she never tell us about her first baby? That’s so suspicious. I’ve told her everything about my life.’

‘Just because Lexie doesn’t share every detail, it doesn’t make her guilty. There are lots of things you don’t know about my life.’

‘Really?’ Tara thought Imogen was an open book with her twin terrors, her army husband and her church community. Such a good girl, she wouldn’t even have any secrets to hide.

‘You’ve betrayed us, Tara. All of us, not just Lexie. You’ve betrayed the playgroup.’

‘No, I haven’t! I’m trying to help find Bella. Just like you. I was going for the biggest audience to get the message out.’

‘But you implied that Lexie was involved.’

‘What I did was help everyone understand that Lexie was hiding behind a facade.’

‘For crying out loud! What are you, ten years old? Everyone is hiding behind a flipping facade. Do you truly believe that Lexie has done something to Bella?’

‘Yes, I do!’ Tara shouted, furious at the insults.

‘Well, you’re even more of an idiot than I thought.’ Imogen called through the open doorway towards the lounge room: ‘Come on, boys! We’re going right now.’

With Imogen’s raised voice and the scuffle of the boys’ feet came another sound: Daisy crying. The fuckheads had woken her up. Imogen was a sanctimonious cow. And a hypocrite. Why did she think she was the only one entitled to use the media to find Bella?

Locking the door, walking towards the bedroom, Daisy’s cries cut through her. She held the swaddled baby against her chest, deciding to breastfeed even though it wasn’t time.

What if Imogen was right and Lexie was innocent? This morning’s news announced that Bella’s shoe had been found on the other side of the city; that didn’t point to Lexie’s involvement. Fuck-a-duck—it would mean that, instead of making the community safe, Tara had sent everyone scurrying in the wrong direction while the real kidnapper was still at large.

And what if the kidnapper was out there now, looking for another child?