‘Have you been able to get hold of Mum?’ Ellery asked. She glanced across at her brother, who was sitting on the other side of Max in the back of the Land Rover. Kensy was in the front, having raced to jump in first and put some distance between her and Van.

‘No, she hasn’t picked up my calls or replied to my texts,’ the boy said. ‘She’s probably at the beautician or something and can’t get to her phone. You know what Mum’s like.’

But Ellery knew that wasn’t what their mother was like at all. She always took their calls and texts and she’d never missed a day of picking them up from school.

A marked police car and another two vehicles had just pulled up at the kerb outside the Chalmers’ house. A tall man in a smart suit and a young woman in a form-fitting cream dress and matching heels greeted the officers – two uniformed and four who were likely plain-clothes detectives – at the front gate.

Ellery opened the door and leapt out of the car as it was rolling to a stop. Van followed suit but not before thanking Fitz for the lift and saying goodbye to Kensy and Max. The children’s father looked over and gave a wave, then jogged down the path towards them.

Fitz tensed, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. ‘Kids, you’d better pray this disguise is effective or we’re in trouble,’ he muttered, before lowering his window. ‘Hi there,’ he said.

‘Dash Chalmers,’ the man said by way of introduction, offering his hand.

Fitz noted that Dash hadn’t lost his American accent at all despite living in Australia for years now. ‘Gerry Grey,’ Fitz said, searching the man’s face for any sign of recognition. ‘I’m the new assistant cricket coach and PE teacher at Wentworth Grammar.’

Dash nodded. ‘Thanks for bringing the children home,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid there’s been an incident.’

‘I hope everything’s okay,’ Fitz said, counting on the fact that Dash was still as big a talker as he’d always been.

‘Not really. My, uh, my wife’s disappeared,’ Dash said.

Kensy and Max looked at each other.

‘Are you certain?’ Fitz asked. ‘The children seemed to think she might just be running late from an appointment.’

Dash shook his head. ‘She’s never missed picking them up from school, and the police have tracked her phone to a remote location west of the Blue Mountains. It was lying on the side of the road. Her car was found a few kilometres away, but there was no sign of Tinsley.’

‘That’s terrible,’ Fitz said. ‘I’m so sorry. Can we do anything to help?’

Dash’s face began to crumple. ‘It’s just … I don’t even want to think about what could have happened. She’s the love of my life and the children are her whole world.’

‘I’m sure the police will do everything they can,’ Fitz said, as a convoy of news trucks drove into the street. Reporters and cameramen spilled out of the vehicles, heading for the house.

‘Mr Chalmers,’ one of the police officers called. ‘We need to get inside and set up for the press conference.’

The man turned and gave a nod.

‘I mean it. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do,’ Fitz said. ‘I can take the children to school in the morning or drop them back afterwards. Or they could stay with us tonight?’

‘My assistant, Lucy, is going to look after them this evening – she took the children up to the house just now. They can catch the ferry in the morning, but perhaps you can bring them home? They’ve got after-school activities. That’s always been Tinsley’s job,’ Dash said. ‘I’ve got a hectic day of meetings tomorrow.’

‘No problem,’ Fitz said, thinking it was strange that Dash was worried about a busy workday when it seemed that his wife had very likely met with foul play.

Kensy and Max were wondering the same thing. The whole situation was bizarre. They watched Dash walk back to the property and the gates close behind him.

‘Okay – so what’s really going on?’ Max asked, leaning between the two front seats.

‘Good question,’ Fitz said, his mouth set in a grim line. He turned the ignition and drove home.

‘I thought we were supposed to be watching the kids and now it’s their mother whose gone missing. What’s that about?’ Kensy said, her brows knitted together. ‘The message this morning mentioned that she was making a move soon, but suddenly she’s disappeared – that doesn’t make any sense at all.’

Max spotted Curtis standing on his front porch. The boy gave a wave as the car pulled into the driveway. The twins waved back before the garage door opened and Fitz parked the car inside.

‘We should go and say hello,’ Max said. Kensy had told him what happened at lunchtime and how horrible she’d felt about it.

‘All right, but don’t be long,’ Fitz said, opening the driver’s door. ‘The news will be on in a little while and I think Dash is going to be front and centre. We need to see what the police are sharing.’

Kensy and Max dumped their bags at the bottom of the staircase and yelled a quick hello to Song before heading out the front door. They peered around the dividing wall to see if Curtis was still there.

‘Hi,’ Max said, noticing that the lad had his backpack on and looked as if he was about to go somewhere. ‘Where are you off to?’

‘I saw some news trucks driving down Blues Point Road. Thought I’d take a look,’ Curtis said. Unlike yesterday, he didn’t immediately extend an invitation for the twins to join him.

‘They’re outside the Chalmers’ place,’ Kensy said, hoping that by giving him some information he’d feel a little better towards her.

‘How do you know that?’ Curtis asked.

Kensy explained that they’d dropped Van and Ellery at home as the police and news crews had arrived.

‘I always knew there was something weird going on in that family,’ Curtis said, clicking his tongue.

For the first time, Max wondered if the boy might actually have some useful information.

‘What do you mean?’ Kensy asked.

‘Just stuff,’ Curtis said with a shrug.

Clearly, he wasn’t about to be drawn on whatever it was he’d gathered. ‘Oh, okay,’ Kensy said, taking a different tack. She bet Curtis would be more inclined to tell her if she pretended she wasn’t interested.

‘We’d better let you go then,’ Max said, tuning into his sister’s wavelength.

Kensy opened the front door and was about to step inside when Curtis piped up.

‘Do you want to come with me?’ he asked.

Kensy grinned. ‘You bet!’

And with that, Kensy and Curtis scampered down the path while Max stayed behind to watch the press conference under the guise of too much homework. He told Fitz where she’d gone and they both agreed it was probably a good idea to keep an eye on the Chalmers’ house – and perhaps Kensy could teach Curtis some surveillance techniques. Although, given the lad’s fervour for spying, there was a possibility that could go either way.