Heather snatches her hand away and adjusts her position on the bed so that she’s facing her mother. ‘No. Listen. Please listen. It’s important, Mum. I know I sound deluded. Mad, even. But … I don’t know if it was seeing Jess again or just my brain healing but I’ve remembered. Ask Adam if you don’t believe me. Ask him what we’d been fighting about that last night.’

Margot puts a hand to her head. ‘I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.’

‘I found out about Flora when Deirdre came to stay at the caravan park. She had a dog with her. Big and fluffy. You know, one of those Chow Chows. And I remembered Flora telling me about them when she was going out with Dylan. She said the mother of the guy his mum was seeing bred them. And the guy’s brother, Clive, had come to the fair and brought it with him. And then there was the ring …’

Margot gets up from the bed and begins pacing the room, her mind racing. Flora’s alive? ‘Where is she?’ she snaps, suddenly not caring about the logistics, only that she wants to see her daughter again, her baby. She burns with it, the desire to hold her elder daughter in her arms again. ‘Where is she, Heather?’

Heather starts crying. ‘That’s just it. I don’t know. I found her, Mum. In Clive Wilson’s house in Southville. I found her and then I lost her again. Call the detective guy that you like. Get him to find her.’

Margot wants to believe all this is true. She’s dreamed of it so many times over the years. But Heather’s been in a coma – she nearly died. ‘Are you sure you didn’t … dream this?’

‘I’m telling the truth. It’s a long story, Mum.’ Heather’s face is a picture of desperation. ‘I’ll tell you another time but, for now, please, just find her.’

Ruthgow sounds just as sceptical as Margot feels.

‘And Heather is telling you this only now?’

Margot is patrolling the length of the atrium, her mobile clamped against her ear. There are a few people at tables, nursing vending-machine drinks. The cafés are now closed. ‘I don’t think she could remember before. The … accident. Her head … her thoughts were all over the place.’ Her voice sounds echoey in the vast space.

‘Please try not to get your hopes up,’ he says softly. She wonders if he’s at home. Perhaps with a significant other. Are they clearing up after dinner or about to go out for the evening? She’s sure she can hear someone humming in the background. ‘I understand how badly you want it to be true. But this could be a figment of Heather’s imagination after spending a week in a coma.’

‘I – I know.’