‘Too late, by then, of course,’ said Carolyn.

‘No,’ said Nell. ‘He put it back, with a prayer. He had seen the words on the comb and he thought they would protect him.’

‘From what, though?’ asked Evie.

Carolyn turned on her daughter, her expression mild. ‘She’s very invested in all of this, isn’t she – your new friend?’ She smiled. ‘Has it never occurred to you to wonder why?’

‘We haven’t the time for this,’ said Kym. ‘You should put that knife down and let Nell go see to Maude.’

‘I know,’ said Evie, glancing at Kym. ‘I know about her dad. She told me all about it.’

‘Well, good for her.’ Carolyn tilted her head to one side. ‘We didn’t go to the inquest, your father and I, but a statement was read.’

‘Inquest?’ said Nell. ‘Why—’

Carolyn ignored her. ‘We had no idea why he was here, trespassing, although we could guess. Things had been going missing on site all the time, tools, wallets, people’s phones. We were just as upset as everyone else when it happened, and the Gazette kept bothering us for a comment.’

Nell grabbed the back of the chair, as if she might fall. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘He died here?’

‘And we couldn’t move in, of course. We owned the house, but once we’d finished the renovations, well – Oliver felt that we couldn’t – that it might seem – insensitive. So we sold it. We had to give it up.’ Carolyn shook her head. ‘That just – broke my heart. There were other houses after that, quite a few, but none of them were right. None of them were – home. We’ve never been able to settle, not really. There was talk of legal action, at the time. Compensation.’ She kept a firm grip on the knife. ‘Of course, that came to nothing because that boy shouldn’t have been in the house in the first place. Although she wouldn’t have a word said against him at the time, Gina. Goodness knows what nonsense she’s told Kym, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were still after money.’

‘Fuck you, Carolyn.’ Kym took another step closer.

‘No,’ said Evie, uncertainly. She shook her head. ‘I don’t care. Please, Mum. Please. We should put it back.’ In the soft glow of candlelight the shoe looked as good as new, as if a child had kicked it loose and run away, as if they might come back to reclaim it at any moment.

‘You,’ Carolyn said, taking a step nearer, ‘have no idea what you owe to that – to me. No idea at all.’

‘It’s – not good for people,’ said Evie. ‘We weren’t meant to find it, to move it.’

‘Not you,’ said Carolyn. ‘Not Nell, maybe, but if you know what to do—’