‘Are you certain you’ve not hidden it elsewhere?’ asked Mabel as Roz blinked back tears.

‘Positive,’ said Roz miserably. ‘When I got back the Haggartys were really quiet, as if something had happened. At first I wondered whether they knew about me meeting Felix, but I dismissed that straight away, because there’s no way they’d keep quiet about something like that – quite the opposite, in fact. Callum was annoyed that I was late, but happy with the things I’d managed to bring back. He said I wasn’t to be late again, or he’d send Suzie out instead. I know that’s an empty threat because no one likes or trusts Suzie, and I very much doubt they’d give her anything, even if it were destined for the bin. Lilith kept giving me daggers, but she remained tight-lipped, and Suzie wouldn’t even look at me. I was tired so I couldn’t be bothered trying to work out what was up with those two, so I had a wash and went to bed. That’s when I found it was missing.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘I looked at Lilith expecting to see her grinning, but she wasn’t even paying me attention.’

‘What about Suzie?’ asked Mabel.

Roz remained silent, deep in thought, before answering. ‘She was unusually quiet. I’m certain she was watching me, I could see her from the corner of my eye, and whenever I looked at her, she looked away quickly.’

‘It was her then,’ said Mabel simply.

‘Well, that’s what I thought at first, but if it were, surely she’d have said something? Gloated about how she’d found a necklace, knowing I wouldn’t be able to say it was mine? She’d have been on cloud nine watching me squirm, but nothing!’

‘Why couldn’t you admit it was yours?’

‘Because on the train to Liverpool, Callum asked me if I had anything of value, and that if I had, I should give it to him so that he could look after it for me.’ She gave a scornful laugh. ‘He must have thought I had rocks in my head! I may not have known the extent of their deceit then, but I know better than to hand my things over to a complete stranger.’

Mabel blew her cheeks out. ‘Good job too, else your Star of David would have been long gone.’ She frowned in confusion. ‘Only if one of them’s got it, why not say summat?’

‘That’s why I’m wondering if it’s fallen out of my bedding and slipped between the floorboards somehow. I couldn’t search for it too thoroughly last night, in case I aroused suspicion, but from what I could tell, there simply isn’t a big enough gap for it to have fallen through.’