Despite her father and sister knowing there was trouble in the air, Anna had taken a moment at the mirror behind the front door to flick loose hair from her ragged ponytail away from her cheeks, although that further exposed the dirt she’d smeared across her skin. On the shoe cabinet was a box of wet wipes for washing Josie’s face before she left for school, and she’d grabbed one. She’d been instructed not to clean herself, but it made no sense and she hurriedly wiped away grime before opening the door.

Jane stepped forward first, and pecked Anna’s cheek. Her lips touched dried mud that Anna had missed, which Jane then wiped away from both their faces. Her fingers ran over Anna’s mouth, perhaps seeking a smile or a frown, and then the back of her fingers settled on Anna’s forehead.

‘It’ll be fine,’ Jane said, a response to feeling the hot skin on her fingers. Anna’s temperature had always exposed her mood, at least to her sister. Jane’s other hand brushed against the cordless clutched hard in Anna’s hands.

‘I tried him, too. Voicemail.’

‘Thank you,’ Anna said.

Jane lifted a finger and dragged it softly down Anna’s nose. To the uninitiated, it might have looked like something insulting. But Anna wasn’t the uninitiated.

‘I have. I will. Don’t worry,’ she whispered.

Jane stepped aside for Father. He looked tired. She expected him to immediately launch into an attack on Nick, but he had something more pressing on his mind.

‘Just the one police car? Is there any news?’

‘Detectives as well,’ she said. That seemed to settle him a little and he grabbed her in a hug, although it was weak. He’d never been a man known for his shows of attention. ‘I’ve been told to tell you not to make any calls to people about this. Any ideas you have, give them to the police.’

‘Are you okay?’

She nodded against his chest. There was genuine concern there, but the beat of his heart and rasp of his breath hinted at more.

‘Is there any news?’

Asked with a little more conviction, which made her realise she’d forgotten to answer that question the first time. She shook her head. ‘No news. They’re working on it.’

‘I want to talk to them.’ He kissed her forehead and walked and pushed into the house. She knew he didn’t trust her to give him an accurate story. Because hers wouldn’t condemn her husband.