how small the number of regular and/or recent visitors to the flat is. Yet more evidence, if it were needed, of how much her social life has shrunk. They were always inviting friends over before Mabel was born, but hardly anyone comes by now. More often than not, her weekdays are spent alone. DI Benedict asked her about her mental health in a way that made her think somebody had told him she was depressed. George, she guessed, or possibly Ruby? She denied it, of course.
‘Well, I might as well wash up those mugs,’ says Vicky, rising the instant she finishes her drink. Amber can’t stand her restlessness – it’s making her feel tense. ‘Then maybe I’ll lie down for a bit. I won’t be asleep. If you need me, just shout.’
‘Okay,’ Amber says.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ says George, as soon as Vicky leaves the room, ‘I really hate even mentioning it, but I think I should put it out there …’ He pauses.
‘What?’
‘It’s just a theory, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.’
‘What?!’
He takes a deep breath. ‘Ruby.’
‘What about Ruby?’
‘I think she’s lying about Mabel being taken from the cot.’
Amber’s face puckers into a frown. ‘Sorry, I don’t … I mean, why would she? She’s devastated. She wants the police to find Mabel as much as we do.’
‘Hmm …’ His lips purse together. ‘We only have her word for what happened.’
‘That’s because she’s the only witness. So far anyway.’
George clears his throat. ‘What if – I know this is going to sound dreadful, but hear me out – what if there was an accident?’
Amber’s blood chills. ‘What do you mean? What sort of accident?’
‘You know what Ruby’s like; she doesn’t concentrate, she forgets things … What if there was an accident and – well – Mabel got hurt. Badly. Like she suffocated or fell and hit her head. I’m not saying it was deliberate, but what if Ruby accidentally—’
‘No … no … don’t. Stop it, I won’t hear it.’
He grasps her hands and takes them away from her ears. ‘She could have hidden Mabel somewhere and then pretended she’d been abducted.’
Amber swallows hard. ‘That’s a disgusting thing to say. Why on earth would she do that?’
‘Easy. She was afraid to admit what had happened because she knew we’d never forgive her.’
‘No … that’s … that’s not what happened.’
‘You said yourself she was always breaking things and lied to cover it up.’
‘When she was a kid, yes, but not now.’ A memory flashes before her – Mum in tears because her cut-glass vase, an anniversary present from their father, had mysteriously disappeared. She called the girls downstairs, demanding explanations, although she knew full well that Amber wasn’t involved. Ruby hotly denied she’d broken the vase. She claimed she’d seen a burglar climbing out of the window with it under his arm – she was so convincing, Mum nearly called the police. But Amber knew her sister had been practising acrobatics in the sitting room earlier. She searched Ruby’s bedroom and found the broken pieces of glass wrapped in newspaper hidden under the bed.
‘Do you think I should mention it to the police?’ George says.
‘I expect they’ve already thought of it.’ Amber looks down at her fingers, twisting in her lap. ‘Sally said they consider every possibility, no matter how unlikely. And they will definitely have interviewed Ruby by now.’
‘Yeah, but they don’t know what she’s like.’
Amber bristles. ‘She’s not a murderer, George. She’s just a bit … ditzy.’
‘I said it was an accident. She panicked, didn’t know what to do. Mabel was—’
‘Don’t talk about her as if she’s dead.’
‘I’m not, I’m just trying to work it out. The police aren’t stupid; they know Ruby’s story doesn’t add up.’
‘I still can’t believe my own sister would do something so appalling just to save her own skin.’
‘Wouldn’t she?’ presses George. ‘You don’t know that for sure. You’ve no idea what she’d do when pushed to extremes … I’m going to tell DI Benedict tomorrow. He needs to know.’
When she wakes, Amber is lying fully clothed on top of the bed. She has no memory of climbing the stairs and going into the bedroom. How long was she asleep? Minutes? Hours? She should have fought back the yawns, propped her eyes open with matchsticks. She promised she would stay awake until there was news, and she’s fallen at the first hurdle.
Mabel is missing. Still missing. The realisation jolts through her like an electric shock. She will never get used