Eliza fought to regain control of herself. Madison had left behind the statuette. She turned it over in her hands, touching the bone fragments in its eyes, then shuddered. The thing was hideous, and sickly, like the taste of blood in her mouth.

Denni made this . . .

She left it on the little table by the door and walked back to the bathroom, biting her lip. She let the water out of the bath, the drain squealing, and dried herself with trembling hands. She dressed herself and headed back out to the kitchen, tying the red scarf over her forehead.

The statuette filled the room with a slimy menace.

There was another knock on the door.

She straightened her back and wrenched it open, ready for Madison, but it was Detective Gabriella Pakinga. Her eyes were bright, her face flushed.

‘I heard you gave up on trying to protect Tom.’ She sounded excited. ‘And I heard about Con’s dirty trick. But I think I’m close to something, and I need your help . . . I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I’m not on the case anymore.’ She was taking off her denim jacket when her eyes caught on the statuette. The blood drained from her face.

‘Madison brought it just before. I don’t really —’

‘Madison?’ Gabriella looked up from the statuette. ‘She was here?’

Eliza took Gabriella into the adjacent lounge room and they settled onto a couch, where Eliza recounted the conversation she’d just had with Madison.

‘What I don’t understand is why the police haven’t made it public that Madison planned their disappearance?’ said Eliza. ‘Doesn’t that change the whole case? There are still people searching the bush.’

‘Madison thought it was Denni’s statue . . .’ said Gabriella, lost in her own questions. ‘Why would she think that?’

‘Denni was good at woodwork. Her mum, Kiera, was good at it too.’ Eliza picked up the hideous statuette again. ‘But I’ve never seen anything like this in my life . . . except I think I heard a mention of it . . . Has any of your investigating brought up the Kundela Game?’

‘What’s the Kundela Game?’

Eliza was silent a moment, and when she spoke her voice was heavy. ‘I once overheard Denni talking about it on the phone to Madison. It was some sort of social game . . . a series of dares, one a day, and you had to prove you’d done them. I only really know about it because Denni was suspended for flashing her bra at the principal. It took a long time for her to admit to me it was a dare, and then I put two and two together. When I asked about the Kundela Game, she completely flipped out. She made me swear never to mention it to anyone, especially not Madison.’ Eliza’s voice grew quiet. ‘I think that’s around the time she stopped trusting me.’