‘This carpet will need replacing.’ Ed was staring at the outdated red swirl design. ‘As for the walls . . .’ he continued, tearing off a damp strip of woodchip paper, which revealed pink painted walls beneath. But neither Naomi nor Morgan was listening. A silent power struggle was taking place in the room. Because as fearless as Ed appeared to be, he would never have agreed to the purchase of a cottage where something so unspeakable had occurred. It was the one question he’d asked Naomi before they made an offer – had there ever been a burglary in the house? She hadn’t been lying when she’d said no. After all, no burglary had been reported in Ivy Cottage that they knew of. But she omitted to tell him it was potentially something far worse. It was a miracle he hadn’t heard about it, but he was in America when the Harpers disappeared. The story didn’t gain as much traction as it should have done, due to other events in the news.

It had taken time for Ed to trust Naomi with knowledge of the childhood events that had affected him so deeply. He didn’t share his family history with many people, and she understood why. He was only ten when their home had been broken into, not old enough to deal with the chain of events that led to his father’s death. His father’s heart attack had been put down to natural causes, but everyone knew the shock of the break-in had sent him to his grave. Ed had grown up quickly after that, his adulthood plagued with unreasonable guilt. How on earth could he have saved his family at the tender age of ten? Now Naomi had bought the one house that would have given him cause for concern.

‘Where are you going?’ Ed said as Morgan approached the door.

She walked with a bounce, her Dr Martens giving a spring to her step. ‘To get my stuff from the car.’

‘I’ll help you,’ Naomi replied, a little too quickly, before turning back to her husband. He was standing in the middle of the room, a bewildered look on his face. ‘Why don’t you light the fire?’ Naomi said, giving him something to do.

‘But we’ve not seen the rest of the house yet,’ Ed replied, watching them both head out.

‘I’ll be back in a sec.’ Naomi followed up with a whisper. ‘I don’t want her sneaking off.’ Darkness was closing in and from what Ed had told her, Morgan had a history of disappearing for hours at a time.