Caruso wrote in his diary: Sammy spilt milk. Playing hide-and-seek. As an investigator, he always noted everything down, but at this particular moment he wished he could press fast forward on Tara. Clearly, she was a gossip who liked the attention, but he didn’t have the time to give it to her. When he finished interviewing the mothers, he had to find the Parkers, check with the foot patrol, call in the SAR team, brief the land search coordinator, discuss the search areas of possibility and probability, and decide whether to bring in the SES. And he’d have to set up a police forward command.

He sighed and carried on. ‘And does that often happen, Mrs Murphy?’

‘Yeah, Mel’s very permissive. She says it makes them independent. But now I’ll have to wash Zoe’s sweater. It’s covered in milk.’

You can always buy another sweater from the shop. But you can’t buy another little girl.

‘Thank you, Mrs Murphy, you’ve been very helpful. Just one last question: does anyone in the playgroup own a red hatchback?’

‘A hatchback?’ Tara repeated the word as though she didn’t understand it.

‘What sort of car do you have?’

‘A Honda Jazz. Is that a hatchback?’

‘Yes, that’s right—it’s the hatchback shape. What colour is your car?’

‘Maroon.’

‘Uh-huh. And were you driving it today?’ Caruso wondered if maroon could be classified as red.

‘No. Julia picked me up this morning. My husband has the car today.’

Mel Wainwright. The youngest one. Attractive, with dark curly hair, curvy top and bottom. Single mother with one boy. A large wooden pendant hanging over a poncho-style jumper, fringed at the hem. Slightly bohemian. The earth mother type dedicated to raising her kids in the most organic way.

‘I told the other police officers everything,’ Mel said softly. ‘Are they still looking? Why haven’t they found her yet?’

‘We’ve got officers out searching. I’m just double-checking to see if anyone remembers anything. Was there any kind of distraction when Bella went missing?’

‘We were looking after her properly.’ Mel’s voice cracked. ‘We were watching her.’

‘Sorry, I wasn’t implying that you weren’t, Ms Wainwright,’ Caruso said hurriedly. ‘I’m wondering if something unusual happened. Did anyone come into the playgroup who wasn’t normally here?’

‘No.’ Her answer was emphatic; the same answer everyone else had given to that question.

‘Okay, so where were you when—’

‘Wait. Someone did come. Tara’s husband. I don’t know why. He just popped in.’

‘Did he speak to you?’

‘No, he and Tara went outside to talk. He didn’t come inside.’

‘What time was this?’

‘I don’t know.’ Mel shook her head, the long curls settling around her shoulders. ‘And I don’t know if anyone else saw him. Oh my God, do you think Josh has something to do with it?’

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