What? Had she misheard him? ‘Of course she’s here. She locked herself in the bathroom.’

‘Well she’s not in there now.’

‘She must be. Have you checked properly?’

Even as she asked the question, she realised how stupid it sounded. Rosie’s bathroom was tiny and there was no place to hide.

The constable gave a smile that she guessed was supposed to be sympathetic, but it looked more pitying, which only served to wind her up further.

‘So where the hell is she?’

‘We don’t know. Her flat was empty when we arrived.’

Hannah gasped in panic. ‘She took her.’

That had the PC’s eyes narrowing. ‘Who do you mean “she”?’

‘She said Eileen Wickham had found her. That’s what I said when I made the call!’

‘Someone has been here, yes, but they would have been gone long before Miss Emerson called you. The paint on the bedroom wall is already dry.’

‘What paint?’

Hannah didn’t wait for him to answer, pushing past him into Rosie’s bedroom. The crudely written word had her catching her breath.

‘You mentioned Eileen Wickham. Why did Rosie think she was responsible?’

‘She said she was scared Mrs Wickham would come back.’

But had Rosie jumped to conclusions that it was Mrs W? Had this been a random break-in? She had been jittery when the news came in that the woman had been released. They all had been.

Mrs W’s words after she had been sentenced, shouting out, ‘One day you’ll pay for this, you little bitches,’ were less frightening as time passed, but still, Hannah had wondered whether the woman held a grudge.

Was the word ‘bitch’ just an unfortunate coincidence?

‘You need to find Rosie,’ she told the constable. ‘Whether it was Eileen Wickham or not, someone broke in here and she could be in danger.’

‘We think Miss Emerson left of her own free will.’

‘Sorry? No, she wouldn’t do that. She was upset and scared. When she called me, she was too frightened to leave the bathroom.’

‘One of the neighbours saw her leave.’ The PC’s tone was gentle. ‘There wasn’t anyone else with her.’

‘What? No! She wouldn’t just go.’

‘Hannah.’ Josh had remained silent as she spoke with the PC, but now he spoke her name with a weary patience. ‘Listen to reason. Yes, it’s worrying that someone’s broken into her flat, but we both know Rosie spooks easily. It’s quite possible she just took off.’

He was wrong. She wouldn’t. She just wouldn’t.

Even as she argued with herself, Hannah knew it was a lie.

Coming home and finding that someone had broken into your flat, that would freak the hell out of anyone, but no one more so than Rosie. It wouldn’t be the first time she had gone into flight mode, wanting to get away from everyone just to forget.