But Naomi’s heart was still clamouring in her chest. Folding her arms, she squared up to her stepdaughter. ‘I thought you were being murdered in here.’ It had been an Academy Award-winning performance and Naomi hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come.

‘Sorry,’ Morgan replied in a sickly-sweet tone that suggested she was anything but. Naomi watched as Morgan traced a finger over the window sill, leaving finger marks in the dust. The nail holes in the window frame offered cause for concern. Naomi’s eyes widened as she read the word her stepdaughter had written: GONE.

Morgan’s head tilted to one side as she drew stick figures in the dust. A mum, a dad and what looked like a wheelchair.

Oh no, Naomi thought, a flush rising from her chest up to her throat. She knows.

Pulling a tissue from beneath her sleeve, Naomi wiped the drawings away. ‘Where has all this dust come from? This place needs a deep clean.’

She emitted an awkward laugh before scrunching up the tissue in the palm of her hand. Her skin was clammy, her armpits damp. It felt like she’d been caught in the act. How had Morgan found out so quickly? She caught the sly look of satisfaction on her stepdaughter’s face. It wouldn’t surprise her if she had orchestrated the whole spider thing just to get them in here. Naomi would not be held to ransom by a sixteen-year-old. She would tell Ed about the history of the house when the time was right – if Morgan didn’t spill the beans first.

‘Smells like dead bodies in here,’ Morgan said, wrinkling her nose.

The room did carry a sour stench, but the quip was close to the bone. Naomi held her breath as she waited for the other shoe to drop. For Morgan to tell her father that this was a house from which a family had disappeared into thin air. Morgan’s teeth flashed beneath her black lipstick as her smile widened. As she ran her hand over the old dressing table next to the window, she seemed to consider her next move.

‘It’s just musty.’ Oblivious to their stand-off, Ed’s words echoed in the room. ‘Want me to open the window, let some air in?’

‘No, thanks.’ His daughter smirked. ‘What with the monsters prowling around.’ She opened the old dresser table drawer, and seeing it was empty, slammed it shut.