Page 58 of Darling Girls

‘I thought I’d find you here,’ Patel said.

‘Why?’ Norah said.

‘Because there’s nowhere else open past five o’clock in this town.’ She gave them a tight-lipped smile. ‘And I saw the lights were on when I left the police station.’ She pointed across the road.

‘Do you want to join us?’ Bianca asked, but Patel shook her head. She hesitated a moment, clasping the back of the wooden chair in front of her as if steeling herself for something.

‘It’s good that you’re together. We received some information from the medical examiner tonight and I wanted to let you know before the media got wind of it.’

‘About the bones?’ Jessica asked.

‘Yes. There’s more analysis to be done – the forensic anthropologist is yet to determine the cause and time of death – but we do know that the body belonged to a female child. A young child. Possibly an infant.’

‘Aninfant?’ Zara said. ‘Like a foster child?’

‘What does this mean for the investigation?’ Bianca asked.

‘Do you have any suspects?’ Zara chimed in.

‘I bet it was one of the foster mother’s boyfriends,’ Rhiannon said. ‘It’s always the boyfriend.’

Jessica stole a glance at her sisters. Norah’s brow had settled into a deep frown. Alicia’s face was drained of colour, and she was gripping the greasy table in front of them as if it were a life raft.

‘But if someone killed a foster kid,’ Zara said, ‘why weren’t they reported missing? Foster kids have a paper trail, don’t they? A social worker? Surely a child can’t just disappear without anyone asking any questions?’

Normally this was where Alicia would jump in. She’d told Norah and Jessica of the sobering reality many times: foster children went missing with frightening regularity. That said, the children Alicia described were typically teens. It would be hard for an infant to go missing without anyone asking questions. Practically impossible.

‘We’re looking into all of this now we know that the bones were those of a child,’ Patel said. ‘I’m sorry – I know this is upsetting.’

Patel was looking at Alicia. When Jessica followed her gaze, her heart gave a tiny lurch. Alicia wascrying.

Jessica went to Alicia’s side and kneeled beside her. She placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on her sister’s thigh.

‘It’s okay,’ Jessica said to her quietly. ‘You’re okay.’

Norah stood on Alicia’s other side, a hand on her shoulder.

Jessica felt the eyes of the detective and the other women on them, even though they could have no idea how momentous the occasion was. They didn’t know that Alicia hadn’t cried a single tear since Grammy died.

Then, just when Jessica thought things couldn’t get any more momentous, Miss Fairchild walked into the pub.

THE OFFICE OF DR WARREN, PSYCHIATRIST

Today when I arrive to see Dr Warren, he meets my eye and doesn’t make me wait at all. He seemsexcited. And I am excited that he is finally listening.

‘The moment John moved into Wild Meadows he became master of the house,’ I say to him. ‘It was so different from when my father was around. Even though my mother’s financial troubles had been rectified by selling off land, he was obsessed with money, scrimping and saving and watching every penny. Our meals became smaller, we stopped buying new clothes. John hid a tin of cash in a sack of rice, and occasionally he would get it out and count the contents. If he saw me watching, he said, “Don’t get any ideas, I know how much money is here to the cent.”

‘The other difference was the change in my mother. When my father was alive, she’d lie around in bed in the morning while my father got up and did the chores. Now my mother was up at dawn, cleaning the house from top to bottom. John was fastidious, pointing out even the smallest skerrick of dust or dirt. When she was done cleaning, Mum cooked breakfast for John, then she did all the dishes and put them away before wiping down the table and counters and mopping the floor. I would have been appalled even if I hadn’t been required to help. But John insisted that I pull my weight.

‘“Buthe’snot pullinghisweight!” I cried when my mother gave me my new list of chores.

‘“He works.”

‘“So did Dad, and he didn’t expect you to run yourself ragged all day cleaning a perfectly clean house!”

‘I hadn’t noticed John standing in the doorway, so when he grabbed my ear, the surprise was nearly as shocking as the pain.

‘“You will not disrespect me,” John screamed. He pulled me close enough that I could smell his breath. “And you will not talk back to your mother.”