‘Madison Mason. The sister of Cierra. Yesterday, I told you she was a YouTuber. Detective Coops reported that the school social worker said she wielded it like a weapon. Well, she’s uploaded a video this morning, and . . .’ She sipped her coffee, wiggling her eyebrows.

‘Not good?’ said Con.

‘Good intentions, I’m sure,’ she said, opening her computer. ‘But this whole damn town is about to blow up.’

‘Are you serious?’

Instead of answering, she hit play.

Madison’s red hair was artfully tousled, her face heavy with make-up, except where a purple bruise surrounded her left eye, gaudy in high-definition. She sat on a lush bed, speaking straight to the camera. Tears glistened in her eyes as she gave her account of events.

‘We fought, Jasmine and me, but the others got involved too. Even Bree Wilkins. I want to tell you what the fight was about but it’s not fair, because Jasmine isn’t here to defend herself. But it got . . . pretty bad.’ She touched the bruise around her eye. ‘Miss Ellis made me leave the group, made me go ahead and join the rest of the class. I was still so angry with her, with Jasmine, and even Georgia and Cierra. I . . . I told Jasmine I hated her, and then I walked way, and that was . . . that was the last I saw of them . . . I caught up with the main group, and it started to rain and thunder and Mr North made us hurry up. They’d called for a bus to pick us up at the Lake Nameless car park. But that’s . . . that’s when we realised Miss Ellis and the four girls hadn’t been seen . . .

‘And now . . . the people that you know and love from my channel, my best friend, Jasmine, is missing. My sister, Cierra, is missing. The woman I call my surrogate sister, Georgia, is missing. And a woman I once considered one of my best friends, Bree Wilkins . . . once Denni’s best friend . . . missing. Up in the bluffs. Time is . . .’ She put her head in her hands.

‘Please . . .’ She looked back up the camera, doe eyes imploring the viewer. ‘If anyone out there can help, please come join the search efforts. I know my sister is still out there – I know she is. I can feel it in my . . . There’s just so much ground to cover . . . no matter where you are in Australia, or in the world —’