Josh shrugged, keeping his eyes on his daughter’s game. ‘Just before ten thirty, I guess. I can’t tell those kids apart, and I’ve never met Bella or Lexie. I gave Zoe a quick kiss at the door and then Tara came outside to talk to me.’

Caruso led Josh through his actions from parking his car to his arrival outside the playgroup to his departure. A sequential process often helped a witness remember something that they’d forgotten. But Josh, it seemed, had seen nothing.

‘Did you see Lexie go to the shops?’

‘No.’

‘Did you see anyone acting suspiciously near the playgroup?’

‘No.’

‘Did you see a red hatchback in the laneway?’

The man was jiggling his left foot. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

‘No. I wasn’t looking for anything. I just wanted to tell Tara the good news.’

‘I was so happy,’ Tara said. ‘But I didn’t want Julia to know so I had to squash it down.’

‘We’d planned to have a special dinner.’ Josh smiled sadly at his wife. ‘Of course, we can’t celebrate now—not with the poor girl missing. It’s terrible.’

The couple sat on the couch, holding hands as if their lives depended on it. Borrowing money—a great way to break up families and friendships. Financial stress made people do things that you wouldn’t expect. Caruso wanted to know more about their debt. He’d get his team on to it. And he’d make a bet that Tara hadn’t told him at playgroup earlier because she didn’t want to risk Julia overhearing the news about their unexpected windfall.

‘There’s something else you should know.’ Tara paused. ‘It might not be important … and Lexie has probably already mentioned it …’

She was wearing a sly look, the same expression as his ten-year-old niece when she was trying to get her younger brother into trouble.

‘Go on.’

‘Lexie’s stepdaughter, Victoria, was down here from Sydney on Father’s Day and she went missing.’

No, Lexie had not mentioned it. Nor had Dr Parker. Presumably Victoria was found relatively quickly, otherwise he’d have known about it.

‘How old is Victoria? Was it reported to the police?’

‘She’s a teenager. Maybe sixteen? I don’t think the police were involved.’

Caruso would find out if the parents had rung the police and whether any details were entered. He started another list in his diary—check the system for any report; call Victoria and her mother; speak to the Parkers. He wondered what sort of relationship Victoria had with her father and his second family. He’d check if there was any history of domestic violence in the first marriage; any broken bones for that daughter. And how did the ex-wife fit in? Was she happily remarried or bitter about her younger replacement?