‘So, what you thinking the grieving parents want to show us, guv?’ Bryant asked, as he drove through pools of water from an earlier storm.

The town of Droitwich sat on the River Salwarpe and was the only Midlands area to be in Halifax ‘Quality of Life Survey’ of 2011.

The satnav deposited them at a tarmac drive flanked by bare, gnarled trees with branches like witches’ fingers beckoning them to enter. The trees gave way to natural parkland with a dwelling a half mile in the distance.

‘Their own lake?’ Bryant observed, glancing to his right.

Kim said nothing. Whatever their material trappings and possessions they had just lost their thirteen-year-old daughter. How much of this would they be prepared to give to get Sadie back? Every bit of it, she suspected.

Although she couldn’t help the stab of disappointment at the house as they neared it. The flat white frontage of the monstrous property screamed Regency incarnation but without the age or history behind it. Any ‘original features’ inside the house would be the total opposite. Manufactured to appear authentic.

Bryant parked the car between two identical Range Rover models. One in black and one in white.

‘Nice,’ Kim observed.

‘Queen of understatement there, guv,’ Bryant said.

She shrugged. Give her a bike, any bike and she could tell you its history but fascination with cars was a bit of a mystery to her.

‘If I was a fifteen-year-old boy this is the car that would be on my wall,’ he continued, looking in the window as he passed. ‘It’s the new SVAutobiography, 5 litre V8 engine and 539 break horse power.’

Kim remained unimpressed.

‘That’s the equivalent of five Ford Fiestas, and they come in at around one hundred and fifty grand each,’ he explained.

So, if cars of that value are parked outside, exposed to the elements, what on earth is being stored in the three-car garage on the west side of the courtyard? she wondered.

‘Not guessing, Bryant, so don’t even ask me,’ Kim said as they strode across the pristine white gravel towards the pillared portico entrance.

Secretly she would have guessed the house value at around six million, but she was more fascinated with the cleanliness of the tiny white stones on the ground.

The door opened before they had chance to knock. Mrs Winters stood before them, pale faced with a tremulous smile and a proffered hand.

‘Thank you for coming so promptly, officers,’ she said.

Briggs hadn’t really made it sound like a choice, but Kim acknowledged the words.

‘Please, come in,’ she said, standing aside.

The hallway was blindingly white, from the floor to the walls and the doors leading from the space. A round marble table stood at the centre beneath a circular opening to the upper level.

They followed Hannah Winters to the right of the staircase and into a room furnished in pastel colours. The cream, plush carpet instantly made Kim wonder if there was anything on the bottom of her shoes.

‘Please, sit,’ she said, fingering a heart-shaped diamond necklace that nestled at the base of her throat.

Kim noted that her nails were painted a soft pink colour to match the cashmere sweater she was wearing over cream slacks. With her straw-coloured hair down and sitting on her shoulders Kim could see the definite resemblance to her eldest daughter, Saffie.

‘My husband will be through, shortly, he’s just on a call,’ she said, offering a polite smile.

Kim detected a recent dose of Botox was responsible for the lack of movement to her features and the absence of lines around her eyes or on her forehead.

‘Mrs Winters, may I ask what it is that you—?’

‘A letter,’ she said. ‘It’s a letter we found in Sadie’s things.’

‘From the school?’ Kim clarified, recalling Dawson’s words.

Hannah hesitated before nodding.

‘You took her possessions before we had chance to take a look?’ Kim asked, working hard to keep the edge from her voice.

‘We did, Inspector,’ said Mr Winters as he entered the room with a clear plastic tub. ‘And this is everything that was in there,’ he said, handing it to her as though they’d done nothing wrong and it was the most natural thing imaginable that he should have access to her belongings first.

She took it from him and placed it on the floor. There was no way she could be sure it was everything or if it was only the items the family were prepared to let her have.

‘Mr Winters, it would have been better to have left Sadie’s belongings in place so that we could assess the importance of the evidence before—’

‘What evidence?’ he asked, frowning. ‘She took her own life. Why would you need to see her things?’

She had avoided the word ‘tampering’ only because they were grieving parents.

‘Mr Winters, did you see the press conference an hour ago?’ she asked.

‘Of course and I think that reporter should be taken to task for her behaviour. How dare she try and insinuate that anyone could have any reason to murder our child.’ He shook his head with disgust. ‘As hard as it is for us to accept that Sadie took her own life, we do not need hacks trying to make a headline out of our misery. The sooner we put this investigation behind us the better. Feel free to take a look,’ he said, nodding towards the box.

She removed the lid and took a quick peek inside. She saw hair brushes, a couple of pairs of shoes, a phone, iPad and a few books. She moved a couple of items around until she could see the bottom of the box.

‘No diary?’ she queried.

‘She didn’t keep one as far as I know,’ Laurence offered, sitting down.

Kim found that unusual even though she’d never kept one herself. But Sadie appeared to love words and exploring her feelings. Definite reasons for keeping a diary.

She knew Sadie had kept something.

‘No exercise books?’

The couple looked at each other and shook their heads. ‘No, Inspector,’ they said together.

‘May I ask who collected Sadie’s belongings from her room?’

‘Saffie,’ Hannah answered.

‘Sadie liked to write,’ Kim explained. ‘Her English teacher said she spent many hours recording her feelings. Had quite a talent, apparently,’ she offered kindly.

It appeared to be something about their youngest daughter they didn’t know. They both regarded her blankly.

‘We met Saffron yesterday,’ Kim said. She knew there was something these people wanted her to see and she would. All in good time.

‘We were surprised that she was still at school, considering—’

Hannah shook her head. ‘She’s always been a headstrong girl, very determined. We begged her to come home with us, but she insisted that she won’t let the school down for the gala. It’s her way of coping, I think,’ Hannah said.

‘Were they close?’ Kim asked.

‘Not really,’ Laurence replied. ‘Not even as children. The three years between them seemed so much more. Saffie has always had an older head on her shoulders. She was never interested in the childish games Sadie wanted to play. She chose to spend most of her time at the piano,’ he said.

Hannah nodded. ‘Eventually, Sadie stopped trying to get her sister’s attention, and the two of them kind of drifted apart.’

Kim could hear the sadness in the woman’s tone.

‘Neither of us had siblings and wanted our girls to grow up close. We always hoped that once they were…’

Kim saw her eyes redden at the realisation that any hopes they’d had of those bonds forming later in life had been lost for ever.

She thought about the photo on her own fireplace at home. The bond she’d had with her own sibling, her twin brother, had been only six years long but it was a bond she had treasured.

‘So, what was it that you wanted to show us?’ Kim asked.

Laurence stepped over to the mantelpiece and retrieved a single piece of plain paper.

‘We did find this in her things?’ he said, nodding towards the paltry box of possessions.

Kim had lost interest in the box. It had been filtered through too many hands already. Stacey might find something on the phone or tablet, but Kim suspected not, or it would have been held back.

She took the piece of paper.

The handwriting began tidy, neat and small. The words measured. It was a letter of two halves.

Bryant scooted closer to read with her.

Kim went back to the top of the letter and read it again.

She felt Bryant sigh beside her.

It was tough to read the muddled, sincere, lost thoughts of a thirteen-year-old girl that was now lying in the morgue. However she had spent her last days or hours, she had not been happy or at peace. Especially with herself.

Kim raised her gaze to find that Laurence had moved to stand behind his wife. His hands rested on her shoulders. Hannah had turned her face into her husband’s forearm as though the truth was just too much to bear.

‘And how do you see this letter, Mr Winters?’ Kim asked, gently.

He swallowed back the tears.

‘I think this letter leaves no doubt whatsoever that our daughter wanted to end her life.’

Kim felt torn between revealing the nature of Sadie’s injuries and waiting until they had something more substantial to share. The word ‘murder’ had been shouted from the rooftops by Tracy Frost, but this couple were choosing not to hear it.

She stood. ‘Thank you for sharing this letter with us, Mr Winters. I’m sure it will help us with our enquiries.’

Laurence nodded and walked them to the door.

Kim promised they’d be in touch soon.

For a minute she stood against the car.

‘The answer is no before you even think about it,’ Bryant said, opening the car door.

‘You don’t even know what I’m thinking,’ she countered.

‘Oh yes I do,’ he said as she got in beside him. ‘Clearly the Winters have friends in high places. Now, those friends have already prompted a call from the top of the food chain. For whatever reason they’re determined to believe their daughter killed herself. If you go back in there and try to force them to believe she was murdered, what then? You don’t think we’re being watched closely enough as it is? Their well-placed friends are gonna want this thing wrapped up within the hour, and right now we have nothing.’

‘So, you’re saying we should just continue to allow them to believe a lie?’ she asked.

‘I’m saying we take the opportunity to find out who killed her so we can give them some real answers.’

‘Damn it, Bryant. I know you’re right, but I know I’m right too,’ she said, exasperated.

He started the car and turned it towards the drive.

‘Great, I can’t even have one right on my own.’

She sighed as they crunched across the gravel. ‘Bryant, you think Sadie would have written a letter to Mummy and Daddy?’

‘Not a bloody chance,’ he said, reaching the road.

No, strangely enough, neither did she.