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had only just started investigating,
and was already learning it wasn't as easy as it looked. I had no
tolerance for the whole one step forward, two steps back
thing.

    ‘ Mum, have you heard
of Facebook?’
    Mum was still
polishing Picasso. She didn’t look like she was doing a chore; she
appeared to be enjoying herself.
    ‘ Yes, I have heard of
it. I read an article about it in the paper a while ago. What about
it?’
    ‘ Oh, I just thought
I’d join up, do some fishing around to see if Sophie was on there.
I couldn't find her but then I thought we might be able to get in
contact with someone who went to school with Sophie, to see if they
have heard from her since she moved to London.’
    I tried to play down
my self-congratulatory tone. I had been tempted to tell mum I was
amazed Liam hadn’t thought of it, but mum wasn’t reacting well to
insults to Liam. She straightened up, stretching out her
back.
    ‘ That’s a great idea,
love. I’m sure it couldn’t hurt.’
    ‘ What do you mean, it
couldn’t hurt?’
    Mum went to say
something, but then stopped herself, a sure sign she was trying to
come up with a less confrontational way to explain something to
me.
    ‘ You’ve read the
emails Liam sent. This search for Sophie isn’t just based on
curiosity, or my wish to be reunited with her.’
    ‘ Of course it’s not,
mum, I know that, as well as you do. But how could it hurt for me
to send an email to a girl she knew 10 years ago?’
    Mum sighed and
started to rub her temple with the side of her hand. ‘Liam
explained that he doesn’t want to endanger us as well. I just don’t
want you to get too involved. I’m worried sick about Sophie as it
is.’
    If I were to be
honest with mum at that moment, she would have got very angry with
me. She didn’t realise how much I doubted Liam. She hadn’t caught
on that I thought he was a total liar, who was stealing as much
money as he could. But last time I came close to suggesting this,
mum looked like she was going to snap. So I stayed off the subject
of Liam.
    ‘ Mum, what on earth
could happen to us in little old Adelaide? I have absolutely no
idea what this danger is, or how it relates to Sophie, so I find it
really difficult to take it all seriously.’
    ‘ I can see
that...’
    ‘ And apart from
everything else, I’m bored! Bored bored bored! I can’t just sit
around and pretend to be reading or watching TV, when all I can
think about is Sophie and Liam and the money and Picasso. It’s
driving me nuts!’
    My voice had grown
louder and louder until ‘nuts’ was so shrill and drawn out that I
must have sounded like a four year old warming up to a tantrum. I
stood with my hands on my hips to complete the scene. Mum stopped
polishing again, and looked at me, her eyes asking me to speak
sensibly.
    ‘ If you are finished,
maybe I'll play for a while?’
    ‘ Would it help you to
calm down?’
    ‘ You know as well as
I do it works every time.’
    ‘ Ok then. I’m
finishing up anyway. Why don’t we put together a rehearsal schedule
like we used to, and I can choose all my favourites?’
    Mum’s favourites were
the same as mine, so it sounded like an excellent send off for
Picasso. And a time consuming diversion to fill the rest of the
morning for me.
    Before I sat down on
the stool, mum lifted the lid to empty out the contents, since the
stool would be going with the piano. There were some old music
books I had forgotten about, along with some loose sheet music, an
electronic metronome, and an old broken piano wire that was
replaced a couple of years ago. Mum neatly packed all the books
onto the shelf along with the hundreds already stored there. While
her back was turned, I coiled the wire up, and put it in my pocket.
It was the only piece of Picasso I could hang onto.

Chapter 7

    Vince poured himself
a glass of red wine as he waited for his visitors to arrive. They
were five minutes late already. He hated waiting. This was their
first visit to his