‘Can we have another cupcake?’ Locky called from the kitchen.

‘Yes,’ Tully and Rachel said in unison.

Tully peered into the bag again. ‘What’s this?’ she asked, fishing out the note with her name and Fiona Arthur’s.

‘That was stuffed into the hot-water bottle with the cash. I don’t suppose you know anyone called Fiona Arthur, do you?’

‘Yes,’ Tully said. ‘She’s one of Locky’s swim teachers.’

Rachel stared at her. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yes . . . no, wait! It’s Fiona Archer, not Arthur. I remember one of the parents commenting that she should have been called Fiona Swimmer.’

‘Oh.’ Rachel deflated. ‘So you don’t know a Fiona Arthur? Maybe a friend of Mum’s?’

Tully thought for a moment. ‘I don’t think so.’

Rachel sighed. ‘It’s driving me mad. I searched for the name on Facebook, and it turns out there are three Fiona Arthurs in Australia. I’ve sent a direct message to each of them but haven’t had a response.’

Tully put the note back in the bag. ‘I get why you want to know who it is, but just because Mum wrote her name down doesn’t mean she’s anyone important. Fiona Arthur could be the ironing lady. Or the name of the person Mum spoke to about getting Dad’s car serviced. Or a hairdresser one of her friends recommended. Or the name of a milliner who makes hats for women with large heads. Remember Mum had to get her hat specially made for the Melbourne Cup because she had such a large head circumference? You got her large head, actually.’

‘That’s true,’ Rachel said. ‘Except that when I asked Mum about Fiona Arthur, she started to cry. And then she said, Stephen hurt that poor woman terribly.’

Tully thought about that. ‘Maybe Dad performed surgery on her, and there were complications?’

‘Or maybe Mum was talking nonsense,’ Rachel said. ‘The frustrating part is we’ll never know.’

‘I wish we could ask her,’ Tully said. ‘Wouldn’t you love that? One more conversation where she was really with us. Where she knew who we were and who she was. Where she could access her memories and tell us what we want to know.’

‘It would be amazing. Though I have to say, I think she’d be pretty happy to know that you and I were sitting here together, talking like this. She’d be over the moon.’

‘You’re right.’ Tully dropped her gaze, either shy or perhaps horrified by the emotional turn of the conversation. Rachel averted her eyes too, for everyone’s comfort, and that’s when she noticed Miles. He was in the kitchen, still sitting on the stool, eating the cupcake directly from the plate with his mouth. It wasn’t dissimilar to how Rachel had eaten the wedding cake the other day.

‘Is Miles all right?’ Rachel asked.

Tully glanced at him then quickly looked away. ‘Honestly, I have no idea. He’s been doing all kinds of weird things lately.’

‘Like what?’

Tully sighed, then started counting them off on her fingers. ‘Won’t sleep in his bed. Freaks out if his hands are dirty. Scared of leaves, and sparkling water, and bananas. Only wears soft clothes. Today, to mix things up, he’s a mute.’