There was one old-looking painting on the wall of two chubby-looking children with wings, one was leaning their chin in their hand, the other had their chin resting on top of their arms. They were both looking upwards to their left, as though at an adult. There were a few of the same kind of statues I had seen along the corridor’s as well.
And then there was Ava’s desk, where I had just lit the candle. A large reddish wood-looking table with a matching high-back chair. I took myself back over to the desk, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my body, I knew I needed to work fast. Maybe I would find something here that would give me some more clues about the presents around the tree stump at the back of the tennis court. Maybe I would discover something else. Maybe it would be something small, but I would feel as though I had one up on Caitlin, who always acted so in control of everything.
My attention was drawn to my right where a high shelf housed a small Japanese-looking vase. It was sitting all alone and looked so enchanting that I was tempted to pick it up and inspect it. But I quickly put that idea out of my head as I imagined myself dropping and smashing it.
My attention was back on the desk which had a few pieces of paper sat neatly in lines across it, as though they were in the order they should be dealt with. Some looked like bank statements, others were handwritten letters. I scanned the contents of the handwritten letter, which was from a friend replying about a lunch invitation. I thought it so strange that a telephone had been invented and the Clemontes and their circle felt it necessary to write long letters just to say, yes they would like to come to lunch.
There didn’t seem to be anywhere else in this room where Ava could hide anything, and the drawers were the only other option, unless there were loose floorboards or holes in the wall, and I knew I didn’t have time for that. I would be missed soon if I didn’t get back, and I was sure Caitlin would be missing her key by now. I felt my fingertips buzzing as they edged their way to the first drawer. The handle was brass and rectangular, and my fingers immediately slipped as I tried to pull it and bashed against the hard wood of the second drawer. I flinched, then stayed where I was bent over, perfectly statue still, until I was sure I couldn’t hear anyone approaching. Then I clutched the handle again and this time I managed to pull the drawer, which was quite stiff, open all the way. I picked up the candle, which was on a small plate and brought it closer, careful not to spill any wax, so I could scan the drawer contents. There was only a magnifying glass, a selection of pens, and a green-and-white floral writing set.
The middle drawer slid open more easily and contained more writing paper, several bits of loose change and some hair pins.
The initial adrenaline that had given me the courage to enter the house alone was fading fast and being replaced with a flat sense of disappointment.
I hurriedly opened the bottom drawer, expecting only to see more of Ava’s writing paraphernalia. Only this time the drawer contained just one large, yellowed envelope. It looked plump, as though there was something quite bulky inside. I put the candle back on the desk, took out the envelope and slid into the desk chair. I carefully opened the flap, which wasn’t sealed, and discovered a pile of photographs. They were all of a similar size, and I looked at each one, trying to take in what I was seeing. Initially, it all seemed fairly normal and didn’t raise any alarm bells, but eventually the content of each photo took on a sort of repetition, and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as my brain slowly started to make sense of them. I reached the end of the photos and went back through them once more, this time I counted as I went. And as I suspected there would be, altogether I was holding fourteen photographs.
A noise behind me made me turn suddenly, still holding the photographs in my hand. And I wanted the chair to swallow me whole as the looming figure of Ava stood in the doorway.
I raced back along the path, towards the marquee. A few people were staggering about outside and there were even a few of the older kids sat by the edge of the pool, dipping their toes to cool off.
I sat down at one of the tables closest to the entrance. My heart was racing. The DJ was playing a song that I presumed was for Josephine’s benefit as about ten men and women of around her age were on the dance floor all singing, whooping and kicking their legs in the air. I wasn’t sure what the song was – I had never heard it before – but I couldn’t help but smile at the way they all seemed to be living in the moment without a care in the world.
Caitlin appeared through a small crowd that was gathered in front of me.
‘There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’
I tried to steady my breathing. I couldn’t get the image of Ava staring at me from the doorway out of my head. The sound of her voice, low and mechanical in my ear.
‘Well, you can’t have been looking very far.’ I tried to sound as nonchalant as I could.
‘What does that mean? I did a whole circuit of the garden. They just played “Love Shack” – it’s the best song ever, and you weren’t here!’
‘Did you dance?’ I said, taking a sly
