‘Yes. I can’t just sit around doing nothing.’

I opened the passenger door, then stopped, eyes fixed on the footpath where Imogen had found the sparkly wizard hat.

‘No.’ I backed away from the car. ‘I have to stay here.’

As I walked up the short path to the playgroup, the noise of children chanting in the school playground drifted through the air.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.

Had Bella wandered across the oval and into the school playground to find out what school was like? It was a small school but there were so many places to hide. Backstage in the hall. Underneath a shelf in the library. Behind equipment in the sports shed. Inside the bathrooms. What if she was locked in a cubicle? My breath was coming faster and faster. When I was working at the museum, a child lost on a school excursion had hidden in a toilet cubicle for three hours. Crouched on the seat so no-one saw his dangling feet. Too terrified to answer the strangers calling his name. Three people had checked that set of toilets and not one of us had noticed him. Finally, a security guard had peered over the top of the partition. The boy wouldn’t move or speak until his distraught teacher arrived. The museum’s head of school programs had written a new protocol the next day and personally delivered it to every member of staff.

‘Mrs Parker?’

Sergeant Caruso stood at the playgroup gate. My eyes flickered from his face to the school. Could I run over there? Would he follow me?

He held out his hand, waiting.

Looking down, I saw I was holding Bella’s jumper. The item of clothing for the dogs to find her scent.

‘Oh, here.’ I thrust it towards him. ‘What if she’s hiding in the school somewhere?’

‘Two officers have been inside. They’ve done a walk through and spoken to the principal. Everyone is keeping an eye out for Bella.’

‘But what if—’

‘Mrs Parker, who was outside when you came back from the shop?’

I stared at the detective, took in his crisp blue shirt under the suit jacket, the olive skin, the slightly crooked nose, dark close-cropped hair. I focused on him because the question terrified me.

‘Um … some … some of the children were outside. They ran to me when they saw the Dora doll. It must have been … um …’

How could I have forgotten? It was only three hours ago. Bella needs me to remember. I couldn’t dredge up an image in my head. It had been wiped clear by what came afterwards. I pressed my fingers against my temples. Think, think. What happened when you opened the gate?

‘The twins, they must have been outside. They’re always outside. Maybe Imogen? Oh God, I can’t remember.’