Page 105 of Darling Girls

Norah took the phone. Stared at it.

‘Amy,’ she said to the phone. Then she looked up at Zara. ‘You’reAmy.’

‘Which adoption agency did your parents use?’ Alicia asked her.

‘Are you police detectives now?’ Miss Fairchild said, finding her voice suddenly. She looked at Patel beseechingly.

‘It wasn’t an agency,’ Zara replied, ignoring her. ‘It was a man. Scott something. Mitchell or Maxwell or –’

‘Scott?’ Norah cried.

‘Scott Michaels?’ Patel said, ignoring Miss Fairchild.

‘Who is Scott Michaels?’ Meera whispered to Alicia.

‘That’s it!’ Zara said. ‘Scott Michaels. Do you know him?’

‘Scott was our social worker,’ Norah said. ‘He and Miss Fairchild were friends.’

Everyone looked at Miss Fairchild then. She rolled her eyes and looked away, as if this were a stupid conversation that didn’t interest her. She’d pulled her phone out and started typing something into it.

‘But if you’re Amy,’ Norah said, looking at Zara, ‘whose body is under the house?’

There was a short silence that made it clear no one knew the answer. Then the silence was broken by Miss Fairchild, who suddenly began to wail.

55

ALICIA

‘She lied,’ Miss Fairchild said. ‘She said Amy was with a good family. All these years, I’ve pictured her living with them. Being loved by them. But she lied.’

‘Who lied?’ Patel asked, looking exhausted, though it was barely nine in the morning.

‘My mother.’

‘Wait,’ Zara said, confused. ‘Are you talking about me? Iwasliving with a good family.’

Alicia was as lost as Zara, and so were the cops, apparently. Miss Fairchild looked stricken, her lip trembling, her face wet with tears. She looked small, suddenly, like a child. It was shocking, seeing her in this light. Alicia had to remind herself not to feel sorry for her.

‘What happened to the baby?’ Miss Fairchild asked suddenly. ‘Did the body give any hint as to’ – she winced – ‘how she died?’

‘The coroner reported a flat depreciation at the back of the skull consistent with a blow or fall,’ Hando said.

Miss Fairchild shuddered. Her hand went to the back of her own head and fresh tears poured from her eyes. Patel and Hando exchanged a look.

Patel came and sat beside her. ‘You know, we’ve been asking these girls about their upbringing at Wild Meadows. But they’re not the only ones who grew up in that house, are they?’

Miss Fairchild shook her head, her eyes cast down, her lips pressed together.

‘I’m sorry,’ Hando said, ‘but I’m going to have to clear the room of everyone except Miss Fairchild.’

‘But we need to hear this,’ Alicia cried.

‘I understand,’ Hando said, meeting Alicia’s eyes. He didn’t look like the enemy anymore. ‘And you will. But we need to hear it first.’

Alicia, Norah, Meera, Zara, Bianca and Rhiannon filed out of the meeting room and back into the foyer, which was too small to contain the six of them as well as the intensity of their feelings – not to mention the questions that remained.

‘We need to bring in Scott Michaels,’ Alicia heard Hando shout to someone. ‘Dirk Winterbourne is in room four. And can you arrange for Zara to come back in later this afternoon to give a statement? Her parents too.’