She had sent Rory and Jess home. There was nothing more they could do. She doubts they would be allowed to see Flora, and Jess in particular had looked shattered, unable to stifle her yawns. As Margot hugged Jess goodbye and thanked Rory, she promised to call in the morning with any news.

Flora. Her baby is home. She feels a surge of relief and elation, quickly followed by fear that she’ll lose her again. She can’t let that happen.

She gets up and begins to pace. She’s desperate to see Heather, although visiting hours are long over and she knows she won’t be allowed.

‘Margot?’

She turns to see DCI Ruthgow charging towards her, a determined look on his face, which relaxes as he approaches. He’s wearing a long wool coat with the collar turned up over the top of a suit.

‘Gary.’ Her mouth goes dry. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Jessica Fox rang me. Told me about finding Flora. That’s wonderful news.’ He smiles, although the deep furrows in his brow don’t disappear.

‘But?’

‘But nothing. The main thing is that she’s been found. There’ll have to be an investigation into where she’s been, of course, to determine if there’s been foul play.’

Margot dips her head. ‘I know. Heather … she already knew Flora was alive. She’d found out before the incident with the Wilsons. I was shooed out by a nurse before I could get any more information from her but I need to know … She said she’d found her at Clive’s Bristol house.’ She bites back tears.

The grooves in his brow deepen. ‘I thought Jessica found her?’

‘No. I don’t understand it all.’

He’s silent for a few seconds as he assesses her with those heavy-lidded eyes of his. ‘Come with me,’ he says suddenly, and strides off down the corridor.

‘Where are we going?’ She has to trot to keep up with him.

‘To speak to Heather.’

‘But we won’t be allowed.’

His mouth is set in a grim line as he says firmly, ‘Well, we’ll see about that.’

Chapter 49

49

August 1994

Flora stuffed her belongings back into her bag. Her Walkman was broken, and the tape spooled out of her All About Eve cassette, like two shiny brown ribbons. She didn’t understand what had happened to her sister. She was just so angry all the time.

The rain was coming down heavier now, and her hair hung in wet strands around her shoulders. She shivered in her thin white blouse. It was covered with the blood from her lip. She’d never get those stains out and her mum would go mental. She had on a white bodystocking underneath, so she stood up, peeled off the wet blouse and threw it into the bushes, covering herself with her black crushed-velvet jacket.