She wiped her cheeks as the garage door slowly wound its way up. There was no room to park the car as its space was now occupied by gym equipment which her husband still used. Thankfully. She retrieved the spraying equipment from the car boot. The car lights lit up the garage. The spraying device was placed back into the steel cabinet in the overcrowded garage and the mask was thrown into a bin.

She had a sense of something and looked around the garage. There were pockets of darkness which she could light up if she turned on the garage light, which she decided to do. She walked over to the switch but a shuffling noise made her turn around. Nothing. Probably their friendly possum. She switched the light on and looked around. Maybe she was over-sensitive because she’d done something that she would never have dreamed of doing before. She sighed and decided she was overtired. She said goodnight to the possum and headed into the house.

The bed was comfortable but Lee-Ann Rose couldn’t sleep. She lay there, staring up at the dark ceiling, wishing it was glass so she could see the night sky. Seeking sleep was a waste of time, so she got up and walked over to the window on her side of the bed and rolled up the blind. She sat back on the bed and embraced the atmosphere the moonlight brought into the room, thankful there were no street lights reducing the moonlight.

Was that a noise? She turned towards the bedroom door. It was most probably the possum again. She calmed herself and left her husband in his dream world with the neurons dancing in his head—he needed his rest. Her long white dressing gown was folded over a chair near the ensuite. She wrapped herself in the gown and walked down the passageway, into the living room and over to the large bay window which overlooked the front of the house.

Her left hand held the drapes opened enough to allow a sliver of moonlight to filter into the house. She looked down at the driveway. Was that her imagination, or was a shadowy figure moving away from the car? Possums? Tiredness affected thinking. A pharmaceutical scientist, she knew more about how the brain worked than most people. It must have been her imagination, so she trudged back to bed, pulled up the covers, cuddled up in their warmth, and drifted off into a restless sleep.

4 – A shadowy figure

ANOTHER NOISE WOKE LEE-ANN ROSE. She leant over to touch her husband but he wasn’t there. The noise came again—it was her noisy husband in the kitchen. The smell of coffee was drawing her in that direction.

A small peck to lips and she sat down to join her husband. “Sleep well, love?’

“I did, Lee-Ann. I needed it. Did you?”

“A bit restless. Thought I heard something so I got up to explore.”

“You should’ve woken me.”

“It was all right, love. I would’ve screamed if I needed you. I think the possums were partying,” She looked around the room. “Is Bella still in bed?”

“Yep. She needs to sleep off that cold. We’ll leave her a note.”

“A darling doting dad you are.”

He gave her a wink and pushed a plate of toast towards her, already buttered and covered in honey.

“Did you check on your plants last night?” he asked as he walked into the butler’s pantry.

“Just went for a drive. Lots of things jumping around in my head.” It was only a teeny-weeny lie but completely went against the grain. She said a silent prayer asking for forgiveness.

She could hear the coffee machine doing its work. She pictured her husband frothing the milk. He was a good husband. He was back and put the coffee mug next to the toast. The sweet aroma attacked her senses.

“Just a nice quiet drive. Did you sort out anything?” he asked.

“Not really. Mainly thought about our walk and how peaceful it was.”

They’d gone for a family walk yesterday, the first time they’d taken Bella on that particular walk. It was Lee-Ann’s place of peace and tranquillity, so worth the long drive. It was where her secret plant grew. The sky was clear and the bluest she could remember. She also caught a glimpse of something in the sky—a small silver reflection, not a plane but a drone. They were everywhere and it planted a seed of doubt in her mind—they were watching, but their interest was not in the plants. They were still looking for her dad.

“It was. Let’s do it again soon.”

“Soon it is.” She sipped her coffee. “Lovely coffee, my darling.”

He smiled as he picked up a piece of toast.

“I’m sure there was more to it . . . more to the drive.”

He was probing. “Yes. I wanted to think about something I read in the coroner’s report on Madeleine’s death.”

“That’s taken a long time. Hasn’t it been three years?”

“Yep. Coroners are busy, and there are a lot of appeals. Some prefer coroners not to dig too deep. There were also some technical and staffing problems.” She watched her husband’s mouth as he chewed away at his toast. His chewing slowed.

“What was it you read?”

Lee-Ann took a long sip of her coffee. She put both hands around the mug, seeking warmth. “There was a statement in there saying that the analysis of blood obtained at the autopsy showed a therapeutic concentration of an unknown medication.”

“And?”

“It’s a medication I know about . . . and I believe I’ll need to bring it to the attention of the authorities.”

“That sounds serious.” He looked at his watch. “You best go get ready.”

Lee-Ann sat in the passenger seat in their Toyota sedan as they started their daily routine. She always admired the view from the hilltop before applying her lipstick. Their driveway was steep. The bottom bend was surrounded by large liquidambar trees with their magnificent maple-like leaves in shades of red, yellow and gold, getting ready for their autumn fall. Behind the liquidambar trees stood massive pine trees, which marked out the front boundary of their property.

Trees made her think of neurons as they branched out to become resident in memory. Yes, she thought of her work too much, but marvelled how great God was and how incredibly he designed the human brain.

Her husband started pumping his leg aggressively. No brakes. No steering. She nodded. She’d expected this but just wasn’t sure how they would execute it. The shadowy figure had been real.

<°)))><

Ava Perdu decided it would be hard for a dad not to appear at his own daughter’s funeral. This had made the decision process easier as they needed to do something with Mrs Rose.

The sound of the crash was loud and echoed up towards the house.

The property was on a large block, a ten-minute drive to the hustle and bustle of town. In addition to the front boundary pine trees, a pine plantation grew to the left of the property. Perdu had hid her car there.

The crash looked eerie in the misty morning. The crashed vehicle gave up puffs of steam and smoke, which floated up and blended into the bluish mist. Strong-smelling petrol puddled on the ground. The car doors were buckled from the impact, and the engine compartment had crushed the occupants of the front seats. She had deactivated the air bags along with other components controlled by the car’s on-board diagnostics system, and was pleased her technical skills were intact. She looked in the rear seat. The girl wasn’t there. She had mixed emotions about this.

She heard a loud scream and retreated into the shrubs under a pine tree. Looking up towards the house she saw the girl running down the driveway, dressing gown flowing, screaming and yelling into her phone.

The mist and smoke concealed Perdu, but it was time to leave before she was seen. Prior to leaving she threw a lighted item towards the petrol. There was a whoosh as it ignited.

It wouldn’t have been wise to do something with the girl—she would have to look at that another time.

She reached the pine plantation and looked back. The vehicle was well alight and the girl was on her knees, hands in her head. Helpless. Perdu felt nothing.

<°)))><

The funeral was today. Her granddad did not come. That disappointed Isabella but she understood why.

The Perdus were there. She thought of Madeleine.

Mrs Perdu had asked if her Mum’s dad was there. Isabella wondered why.

It was a sharp knife and she was thankful for that, because it was hard work. Especially the heart. Now she stood back and admired her work.