He ran out to the garage, dragged out the hose and began to wash the cars, and then to polish them. As the minutes ticked by and there was still no sign of his wife and Matt, he started to relax a bit and began to hoover out her boot. He had moved to the interior of the car and was almost through when his stomach tightened. Something was wrong.

He left the cars and walked around the house, pausing at the seat that overlooked Whisper Fen. It wasn’t the keys, he had replaced them alright, so what on earth was it?

He heard the distant sound of an engine. Whatever it was, Kate would be home in a matter of minutes. It was too late to fix it now.

The sun glistened off the bonnet of Matt’s Toyota as it turned the bend at the end of the lane.

As the car drew up, Will glanced up at the studio window. His gut tied itself into a knot.

The doll.

Remember me?

* * *

The three of them sat around the kitchen table.

‘Amos is a fascinating old boy,’ Matt was saying. ‘His memory is still amazing even at his age.’

That jeering face still haunting him, Will struggled to look pleased and relaxed. Why had he turned it around in the first place? What on earth did he think it was going to do to him?

‘You did okay, did you, sweetheart?’ he asked.

She smiled wearily, saying she was glad she had gone, although it had taken a lot out of her. To his relief, she said she would like to put some of Amos’s recollections straight on to the computer while he made them all a hot drink.

As soon as she had left, he nodded to Matt. ‘Mission accomplished. I’ll send the images as soon as you’re home.’

‘Operation successful?’

‘One hitch. A silly oversight. Fingers crossed that either Kate doesn’t notice, or that I get the chance to rectify it before she does.’ While the kettle boiled noisily, he told his friend about his mistake.

Matt looked perturbed. ‘She showed me that doll when I was in her studio. She thinks it’s beautiful, by the way.’

‘Ugh! It’s disgusting.’

‘I agree, but Kate is totally enamoured of it. Calls it Elizabeth.’

Will was silent. Elizabeth was the name of the stolen Holland child, the one he had tried to keep from Kate. Had she found out about her? Or was it just a coincidence? The copper in Will was deeply suspicious of coincidences.

He made tea, and Matt took Kate hers, joining her at the computer. ‘I’ll go back with you anytime you like, Kate. Perhaps we’ll stay for a bit longer next time, huh? Amos really is a fount of local knowledge and gossip, isn’t he?’