‘Scott MacDonald.’ His father grabbed Jake’s right hand with his own and attempted to crush it, compressing the bones painfully as he pumped up and down.

‘Detective Jake Hunter,’ said Jake. His hand was released immediately.

‘Oh. Right. It was you this morning.’

‘I apologise if our visit precipitated a crisis for Amelia, Mr MacDonald— that certainly wasn’t our intention.’

‘What?’

‘I’m sorry if we upset your daughter. We didn’t mean to.’

The man harrumphed.

Jake turned his attention to the son. ‘Can you tell me what happened, Andrew? After we left?’

He shrugged the teenage shrug of infinite indifference.

Scott MacDonald kicked his son’s ankle lightly. ‘Andrew.’

‘Melia was quiet after you left, but then she was okay enough by dinner to eat at the table. Mum was worried though. Dad was going to sleep in the spare room so Melia could sleep with Mum to make sure she was okay.’

‘Is that correct, Mr MacDonald?’

The older man lifted his chin. ‘I sleep in the spare room when Mary’s worried about the girl.’

‘And then?’

‘After dinner that Murphy girl came over to visit,’ said Mr McDonald, ‘so I went out to work in the shed. Then all hell broke loose. Again.’

Scott MacDonald didn’t seem to hold much sympathy for his adoptive daughter.

‘Do you know what happened?’

‘She got her hands on some Valium, I think. Took enough to kill a horse.’ Mr MacDonald sighed. ‘Look, detective, we do our best, but the girl’s not right. There’s nothing else we can do.’

‘That’s not true,’ Andrew murmured beside him.

‘What was that?’ Jake asked.

‘Nothing.’

‘Speak up, boy,’ Scott MacDonald ordered his son.

Andrew rolled his eyes. ‘Why bother? You never listen.’

‘Andrew,’ Jake said. ‘I’ll listen. What do you want to say?’

The boy looked taken aback. ‘Uh … okay. There is something we can do. Keep Melia away from strawberries.’

Strawberries?

‘Not this again,’ his father sniffed. ‘Don’t be so bloody stupid. How could some bloody berries do this to her?’

His son huffed right back. ‘Not just any berries Dad, strawberries.’

‘What do you mean?’ Jake asked. ‘You think strawberries are connected to Amelia hurting herself?’

‘He’s making it up for attention.’

‘No, I’m not!’ Andrew turned his back on his father to face Jake. ‘I don’t know why it happens. But I just know when we have strawberries, sure as shi– It’s when she tries to harm herself.’

‘Andrew!’

‘Well, it’s true. You and Mum never listen to me.’ His voice softened. ‘I didn’t like Amelia coming to live with us at first because she was all Mum seemed to care about. But I get it now.’

‘What do you get?’ Jake said.

His father opened his mouth to answer on his behalf.

‘Please, Mr McDonald, let Andrew speak.’

‘Just … It’s just … when she loses it, if you think back, we’ve usually just had something with strawberries in it.’ He swallowed. ‘Everyone thinks I’m too young to notice stuff, but I’m not.’