‘Too right I am,’ said Faith. ‘I need to sleep in my own bed. It’s been exhausting having the police crawl all over my life, and I’m hoping that now they’ve finished with the house it means their investigations are nearing completion and we can all go back to the way we were.’

‘But are you sure you’re ready to go back there?’

‘I know what you’re imagining, and it will be hard,’ Faith said, letting her voice catch. ‘But Ella has been a godsend. She organised specialist cleaners to get in there first thing this morning, and I expect everything to be spick and span when I get home.’

‘Is Ella with you?’ Tara asked. She wasn’t used to Faith talking about her stepdaughter in such glowing terms, which meant she had to be close. Why had it taken Tara so long to realise how two-faced Faith could be?

‘Yes, I’m using her phone. The police still have mine, and my iPad.’

‘They’ll have their reasons.’

‘I’m going to need you, Tara,’ Faith warned, picking up on her dull tone. ‘I can’t take up all of Ella’s time. She said she’d feel better if she knew I wasn’t going to be on my own this evening, so I hoped you and April might come over after work? Don’t worry, we can order a takeaway and stay in the sitting room.’

Tara flinched. ‘I’d love to come over,’ she said, pulling a face at Justine. She and her oldest friend were back on the same page. ‘But I have a meeting later and I don’t know how long it will last.’

‘A meeting? Can’t you cancel, or let Iain take over for once? I know I’m being selfish, but it’s so hard going back there, and my nerves are shot to pieces as it is.’

‘I might be able to come over later depending on what happens,’ Tara said, being as honest as she could. She had no idea if speaking to Josh would make her feel better or worse about what had happened.

There was a sigh loud enough to be heard down the phone. ‘I understand. You have pressures of your own, what with Molly running away like that. I knew there must have been a good reason for you not to be there that day. God, I wish you had been, it could have ended so differently,’ Faith said. More firmly she added, ‘But I don’t want you to feel guilty about it. You were right to put your daughter first. I’m sure I would have done the same.’

It was true, Tara did feel guilty for not being there, but she didn’t like the way Faith pointed it out. Passive aggressive was how Justine might describe it, but Tara let the comment slide. ‘Have you spoken to April?’ she asked.