38. Norah

BEFORE

The day they told the police about Amy seemed to go on forever. After hearing the news that Amy wasn't at Wild Meadows, they were taken by car to the police station.

There, Norah, Alicia, and Jessica were shown into separate rooms and asked to tell their stories again. They answered a seemingly endless number of questions. What did Amy look like? When did she arrive? What was her daily routine? What specific interactions with her did they remember? Norah couldn't figure out how this information could possibly assist them in finding her, but after a policewoman offered her a chocolate bar in exchange for answering the questions, Norah decided to go along with it.

"So no one saw Amy besides the three of you?" the woman asked. "No one at all?"

It was shocking to realize that it was true. It was something she'd never considered before. They rarely had visitors. No friends. No family. And Miss Fairchild had been so reluctant to take Amy anywhere, saying that she needed to stay close to home in order to "bond." The only people who ever visited the house were social workers, and the last time Sandi came Jessica had been told to take her to the basement.

"Scott!"Norah cried suddenly. "Scott saw her. Several times."

"Scott Michaels?" the woman asked.

"I don't know his last name, but he's my social worker," Norah said. "Awful guy."

Norah waited for the woman to leave the room or make a call or tell someone, but she didn't. Her expression barely changed.

"The thing is," she said, "my colleagues have spoken to Scott, and to Sandi Riley, but neither of them had any knowledge of a toddler at Wild Meadows."

Norah shook her head. "Sandi never saw her because Miss Fairchild made Jessica hide her in the basement—but Scott definitely saw Amy."

Norah thought for a moment. Scott and Miss Fairchild were friends. He would lie for her. But Norah didn't understand why he'd have to. And why was there no paperwork for Amy? Why would Miss Fairchild suddenly pack up Amy's things the morning they'd decided to go to the police? It didn't make sense!

The policewoman looked as frustrated as Norah felt. "No one else saw her?"

Norah shook her head. "I don't think so."

"All right," she said. She put a hand on Norah's, which perhaps was meant to be reassuring. Norah snatched it away.

"Wait!" Norah felt it in the back of her brain. "There was someone… Dirk! Dirk saw her! Dirk looks after the horses at Wild Meadows. He came to Amy's birthday party to take back the horse I stole."

The policewoman brightened at this. "Dirk Winterbourne?"

Norah nodded, though she didn't exactly know his full name. "Yes! Ask him—he'll tell you."

Finally, the policewoman nodded and headed for the door. Before she left, Norah added, "Make sure they've searched the house thoroughly. Check the rubbish bins, too."

Norah felt encouraged. Amy had to be somewhere. And when the police spoke to Dirk, they'd have to start taking the sisters' claims seriously. She just hoped they moved quickly enough to find Amy, wherever she was.

Around lunchtime, they were shown to a lunchroom at the police station, where they were greeted by a social worker they didn't recognize.

Her name was Genevieve, and she wore Doc Martens and a pretty floral dress. She brought them salad rolls and more chocolate bars to eat but she didn't know anything about the case, so Norah had to sit by the cracked-open door to eavesdrop on the police in order to get information.

"Their stories are consistent," Norah heard Max saying to someone.

"They may have planned it," another cop said.

"Possibly," he said. "Yet they're not identical. They each described the events in different ways, but the events are the same."

"Okay, but—"

"I believe them, Jerry. I've always thought something wasn't quite right with that Wild Meadows woman."

They stopped talking then, and Norah heard a new, third voice speaking.

"You need to see this," the voice said.

Norah leaned closer to the door.

"Are you girls thirsty?" Genevieve said. "I can get you something to drink from the vending machine."

"Shh!" Norah said.

"Where did you find this?" Norah heard Max say.

"Wild Meadows. In the basement."

Norah peeked around the doorframe and came face-to-face with Max, who was walking toward them. In his hand was a knitted doll with blond hair and blue eyes. AMY was written across her chest.

"That's the doll I found in the basement the day Amy and I were locked down there," Jessica said.

Max frowned. "You've seen this?"

Jessica took the doll. "I thought it was weird that Miss Fairchild had a doll called Amy because it's definitely older than our Amy."

Max looked at the doll. "So it's not possible…" He paused, winced. "It's not possible the doll is Amy?"

"It's a doll," Norah said slowly, as if she were talking to an idiot, which apparently she was. "Amy is a human."

Max exhaled. He looked sad. As if he wanted to believe her, but it was impossible.

"What about Dirk?" Norah said. "Did you speak to him?"

"My colleague did."

"And?" she demanded. "Did he tell you? About Amy's birthday party? The pony rides?"

Long exhale. "Dirk has no knowledge of a little girl called Amy living at the farm."

"Bullshit!" Norah cried. Clenching her fist, she slammed it into the wall, which buckled slightly; it was barely thicker than paper.

Max didn't seem concerned. "He did say…"

"What?" Jessica asked.

"He said he had seen you three playing with a doll that matched the description of the child."

Norah felt the rage rising in her body like the tide. It pulsed so hard she felt like she might burst out her skin.

She slammed her fist into the wall again, and again. She punched it until her knuckles bled, until her fist broke clear through the flimsy plasterboard. Then she went searching for something else to punch.