Patrick sighs towards the carpet. He scrapes his hands through his hair; his grey curls are wild. He is drained, beaten. His voice fills the living room: ‘Because they’ve been looking for her for twenty-five fecking years!’

Maureen jumps back, shocked by his tone. She lets go of Chloe, and lifts a hand to her face.

Chloe sees in Patrick’s face that he instantly regrets shouting. He stands and crosses the room to Maureen, crouching down in front of her on the sofa. He reaches for her arms, holds them gently in his grasp.

‘Mo, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I can’t just give you what you want . . . and my love, I know . . . I know more than anyone that this is what you want.’ He looks at Chloe. She can see that he is trying, really trying to see what Maureen wants him to see.

‘But, Maureen, we can’t just decide for ourselves, for Christ’s sake. We’ve been doing those pieces in the papers every year, people will want to know what’s happened, there will be a big—’

‘You’re right,’ Maureen says, standing up quickly. ‘The newspaper, we’ll have to let them know, they’ll need to do a piece and . . .’ She walks past him, over to the teak dresser. ‘Patrick, where did we put that reporter’s card? I’m sure . . .’ She rummages through her address book.

Chloe glances quickly at Patrick, now kneeling on the floor, his face in his hands. She gets up and joins Maureen as she searches frantically for the number. She takes her by her shoulders, softens her voice, because if truth be told, something has just dawned on her, too. Patrick is right, they would need to do a piece in the newspaper, the same newspaper that she has been working at all these years, the same newspaper that fired her for taking the Angela Kyle file home almost three months ago. She can’t risk outsiders getting involved – it would jeopardize her place in the house, it could undo all her hard work.

‘Maureen, Patrick is right,’ Chloe says, and she feels him look up from the floor. ‘There is a process; well, I mean, there will be. We will need to let the police know, and he’s right, there will need to be DNA tests. All that will have to be done before you tell the newspapers. It’s the first thing they’ll ask for.’

Maureen is half listening, but she can tell she’s still distracted. Chloe looks over at Patrick and he gives her a nod, encouraging her to go on.

‘To be honest,’ Chloe says, ‘I’ve had these thoughts, too.’

‘You have?’ Maureen says.