From the very beginning of the day, the usual oppressive atmosphere which weighed heavily in and around Conmere House seemed to have intensified with every passing minute. When it came to three o’clock and her shift had ended, all Steph wanted was to get as far away from the place as possible. She hadn’t seen Harry at all that morning, but had now and again seen Dominic from across the hall, and Pru had crossed paths with her as she had gone to stock up the laundry station at the pool house.

‘Nice to see the earrings are back where they should be,’ she had said as she passed Steph, on her way for a swim. A perfectly innocent comment but one that still managed to send a shiver down Steph’s spine.

Having gone up to her room after her shift and changed out of her uniform, Steph was now in her battered car, speeding away from Conmere. As she drove out of the gates, she could feel the tension ease from her body.

With no particular destination in mind, Steph was surprised to find herself in Kendalton, and for a reason she couldn’t explain she drove to her mother’s house and parked on the driveway. She wasn’t sure why she’d come here, and acknowledged it was an odd thing to do. She never normally came unannounced but Wendy hadn’t been in touch as she’d said she would, and there was something about the call that had left Steph unsettled with a nagging feeling she couldn’t quite get a hold of.

Wendy’s car was on the drive and the upstairs bedroom window was open, so Steph knew her mother must be in. Wendy would never leave the house without first making sure all the windows were securely shut. Still, Steph had to ring the bell twice, the second time more insistently, and then rap on the door with her knuckles.

Puzzled at Wendy still not appearing, Steph crouched down and called through the letterbox.

‘Mum! You there? It’s me, Steph!’

She was convinced she could hear voices and peered through the letterbox. She was able to look right through to the kitchen at the end of the hall and could see the bottom half of Wendy, but there was someone else with her. The back of the kitchen chair was just visible and, although her view of the other person was partly blocked by her mother, Steph saw them move to Wendy’s right. She couldn’t see who it was but could see they were wearing a waxed cotton Barbour jacket or coat. Steph had only caught sight of them for a second but she heard the back door close and saw Wendy rest her hands on the kitchen table for a moment.