The door to my house opens and Stephen appears on the step with his phone in his hand. He raises it to eye level. Moments later he tucks the phone into the pocket of his jacket and stares out into the fading light. For one terrible second I think he can see me but then Mark appears behind him and puts his hand on his shoulder.

Stephen glances round, nods and then takes a step onto the path. Mark follows, then Jake. Mark says something I can’t hear before all three men walk down the path in single file. When they reach the pavement Stephen looks back at Mark. He indicates that he should turn left. Stephen nods and sets off again, with Mark and Jake following behind him. As they disappear down the road in the direction of the pub Jake says something to Mark who laughs and puts his arm around his son’s shoulders. Kira appears briefly in the kitchen then disappears from view.

20.29.

I pull my coat tighter around me and shiver, but not because I’m cold. I feel tired, confused and embarrassed. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen when I sent that text. A reply? A confession? For the person who was responsible for Billy’s disappearance to come flying out of one of the houses, jump into a car and speed away?

What if someone walked past and spotted me here; crouched in the bushes, spying on my own family? I need to go back to Dr Evans and ask her if there’s any way she can speed up the request for a CAT scan. Or beg for medication. Valium or something. There must be a drug I can take to prevent this from happening again. I can’t live like this any more. It needs to stop.

I open my handbag and drop both phones into it, check that the coast is clear and then step out from the bushes. The park is still empty.

I make my way towards the gate a few feet away. The park is supposed to be locked at night but the gate has been broken for months. I make a mental note to ring the council about it in the morning as I head towards the house. I step onto the path, stop and look up at the first-floor windows. The landing light is still on and Kira is standing at the top of the stairs. There is something in her hands. Something long and white like a looped dressing-gown cord. She lifts it into the air and then, almost in slow motion, lowers it over her head.

Chapter 61

I twist my key in the lock.

Nothing happens.

I twist it again but the back door doesn’t budge. It’s been double-locked from the inside.