‘I googled it,’ said Gabriella. ‘It was a street in Yokohoma where American sailors went to find prostitutes. They started talking about feeling “hunky-dory”. But I think Madison chose it because she’s the head honcho. They’re all feeling hunky-dory on the outside, but they’re hiding all this stuff, and she’s in charge.’

Eliza sat the phone down. ‘And these little statues . . .?’

‘Yani told us the second part of the Hungry Man rhyme. Part of a ritual, for warding off the Hungry Man.’ Gabriella repeated the rhyme.

The awful conclusion had already occurred to Eliza. ‘So if Denni made this one, as Madison claims, does that mean . . . Denni thinks she saw the Hungry Man?’ Eliza put her forehead in her hands. ‘Hang a girl from a tree to die.’

‘Looking at her photos in the group, it seems she was getting better, and a few people we’ve talked to said they thought so too. But if you ask me, any girl who was involved in the Honcho Dori Club would have a hard time recovering. I don’t need to tell you that self-harm can be linked to depression and suicide. That’s why this is so serious.’ Gabriella’s voice softened. ‘Sorry, I’m trying to be considerate, but this is all just so left-of-field. I was wondering . . . do you still have Denni’s phone?’

‘In her room. I haven’t been in there since the funeral.’

Gabriella gripped her shoulder. ‘I know this is hard. Thank you for helping.’

‘What else can I do? Especially now everyone knows I was covering for Tom.’

‘Yeah. Not gonna lie, that was a bad move,’ said Gabriella.

Together, they headed deeper into the house, to Denni’s room.

It was exactly as Eliza had left it. The rickety single bed was still made up, with a purple doona, and the walls were covered in posters of space and indie bands. Drawings of trees hung above the little desk, and they seemed to immediately draw Gabriella’s attention.

‘Was something here?’ she asked Eliza, pointing to an empty spot where the tack marks still showed.

‘I took it down. It was a sketch Denni drew of . . . the symbol on the Hanging Tree.’

‘The what?’ said Gabriella.

‘It’s carved on the tree out by the mountain track. Kind of a messy capital A.’

‘Wait, is it . . .’ Gabriella pulled out her phone and swiped through the Honcho Dori screenshots. She held it up for Eliza to see. ‘Is it this? The picture they’ve used for the group chat?’

‘I think it’s supposed to be a stickman with a noose,’ said Eliza. ‘This is definitely the same as what’s on the tree.’

‘The Hanging Tree. Can you tell me about it?’

Eliza licked her lips, hesitating. ‘It’s where Denni died. And Ted Barclay. I’ll show you. It’s not that far from the road, really.’