40. Jessica

BEFORE

Despite appearing to doubt their story, the police were kind—perhaps because they were children. In the three hours they'd been at the station they'd been treated to an endless supply of soft drinks and chocolate, and an officer had bandaged Norah's hands so they resembled large white boxing gloves. She'd done some damage to the wall, but she hadn't got into trouble. One of the benefits of the hole was that they could now hear the conversations happening in other offices clearly. It was obviously a slow day for policing, because one hundred percent of the discussions revolved around them.

"The girls have a history of trauma," someone was saying. "The foster mother says they're all troubled and regularly invent things."

"But the part about extended time off from school was true." This was Max talking. "How does Holly explain that?"

"School refusal, apparently. She wanted them to go but they said no."

"Did she tell the school this?"

"No. The school had them down as sick days."

A long sigh. Norah swung one of her boxing gloves in the air in front of her, her eyes narrowed. "School refusal," she muttered angrily.

"Let me speak to the boy again," Max said. "To double-check."

"We've already spoken to him twice."

"I'll triple-check then."

Norah's boxing gloves shot upright, like a cheer. "Good old Max."

"Are you saying you believe these girls, Sarge?" the other voice said.

A chair scraped across the floor. "I'm saying these are serious allegations that need to be investigated. If their story is true, a child is either missing or dead. Even if they are troubled, it doesn't mean they're lying."

A few seconds later Max appeared in the doorway.

"Thanks," Norah said. "For triple-checking."

He looked surprised, then smiled. "These walls are thinner than I thought." He sat on a vinyl chair and let out a long breath. "Look. We've searched the house again from top to bottom and found nothing. Dirk is still claiming he's never seen her. And there's no record of Amy ever coming to the home. She wasn't legally adopted, she didn't come through the foster system, and she doesn't match the description of any missing children." He looked dejected. "Where else could she have come from?"

The three girls turned to each other. Not one of them was able to answer his question.