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first thing that struck me was the smell. I didn’t have to climb inside before it stuck in my throat and I heaved. I pulled the neck of my tee shirt up over my nose and breathed in the heat of my body. No wonder they’d moved out, the whole place reeked. I almost changed my mind and went home but I needed a clue as to where they might have gone. I clambered in and turned the kitchen light on. Everything shone bright and clean. A baby’s bottle stood soaking on the draining board and the breadbin lid lay propped against the fridge. Other than that, everything looked as spotless and uncluttered as Fran liked it. I checked the bin but it was empty. Perhaps the fridge. But that too had nothing in it to cause such a rancid stench.
    The door from the kitchen led into a passage from which the back door and the living room turned off. And the stairs. It looked like it might be a big coat, or overalls, dangling from the upstairs bannister. I hoped someone might have thrown it willy-nilly and it had tumbled over and got stuck, left hanging by a sleeve.
    But really I knew straight away. Probably knew from the minute I smelt the smell. Or from when nobody answered the door. Maybe even from when she told me she loved me.
    I rang Joe and, as he always did, he came because I needed him. He took down Fran’s body and called the right people to take her away. He carried me back to his house, fed me hot soup, tucked me in, and sat with me all night wiping my snot and tears, letting me cry. Not once did he tell me to shush.

Chapter 7
    Joe sent somebody else to watch Stuart and Gemma get to school and, by the time I got to the caff, he had news for me about Fran. ‘Some guy with a suit, ISS Approved, came and took the baby away. All legit, Carl and Fran signed the paperwork.’
    The second ISS approved in a week. ‘Gold tooth?’
    Joe second-glanced me. ‘Never mentioned it, why? Do you know something?’
    ‘No. Just that I happened across an ISS approved last week. What exactly does it mean? ISS Approved?’
    ‘It means he might have come from anywhere in the country, or even out of the country. He can travel around and do pretty much what he likes with International Security’s approval. There’s a few of them around, could be the same one I suppose.’ He gave a shrug and made a helpless gesture with his hands. ‘But the baby could be anywhere by now.’
    I shook my head. ‘Fran wouldn’t have signed anything, no matter who had approved what. She loved that baby.’
    Joe puffed out his cheeks as he released a slow breath. ‘She probably didn’t have a choice. Or maybe she couldn’t cope any more. People do things you don’t expect them to do all the time.’
    ‘She’d have told me.’
    ‘Maybe she wanted to protect you.’
    ‘From what?’
    ‘From how unhappy she was.’
    ‘But I could have helped her.’
    ‘Not necessarily. Life is tough for a lot of people. We can’t save everybody, Atty.’
    ‘But if it was the same guy from last week …’
    ‘What?’ He looked at me with his mouth open. ‘What could you have done?’
    I studied the ceiling to avoid his eyes.
    ‘ Nothing is what, Atty. What happened last week that you didn’t tell me about, anyway? I’m guessing it wasn’t important.’
    Oh Lordy. Way too late to mention it now. ‘No. Nothing important.’
    ‘I hope not. I need to know everything, do you hear me? If an ISS agent is giving you grief then I’ll have to pull you off the job.’
    ‘It’s fine. I saw one flash his badge at some girl in the park, that’s all. But if they’re out there nicking kids, maybe the park is somewhere we should be watching.’
    ‘Nobody nicked the baby, Atty. Fran signed her over. There’s nothing we can do.’ Joe turned away and fiddled with something on a shelf. ‘Why don’t you go away for a few days? I’ve got contacts up in the hills that’ll welcome having you stay.’
    ‘I’m not going to do anything stupid.’
    ‘I never said that. But maybe