As the girls lay in bed that night, Amanda and Amphora told Ivy about the pink powder. Amanda didn’t say anything about Nick though. For some reason she didn’t like talking about him. She wasn’t sure if it was because she wanted to keep him to herself, which was impossible so why try, or that she was afraid someone might say something bad about him, which she couldn’t bear. She felt like the pink thing was their secret, even though Amphora had been with her when she’d discovered the potential clue, and even though Ivy knew about it now. She’d never felt this way before and it was so illogical it bugged her.
At last everyone fell asleep. Nigel was snoring softly and the girls were warm and toasty under their quilts. And then at precisely 3:12 in the morning, there came the loudest noise Amanda had ever heard.