Chapter 30

Laurel channels her agitation into cleaning Hanna’s flat, then decides that recent revelations eclipse earlier worries. Determined to make sense of Noelle’s disappearance, Laurel leaves and returns home to investigate.

Online searches for Noelle Donnelly yield little until Laurel turns to an old address book and finds the original referral. Calling the number, she reaches Noelle’s nephew, Joshua Donnelly, who confirms the family hasn’t heard from Noelle. He invites Laurel to their house on Harlow Road—opposite where Ellie was last seen on CCTV.

At Noelle’s neglected house, Joshua explains the family keeps it largely untouched in case Noelle returns. Laurel notes that Noelle was a distant, almost mythic figure to her Irish relatives. Joshua recounts that Noelle appeared to be preparing to travel, but her passport and cards show no activity.

Laurel reveals her connection to Poppy and Floyd and that Noelle tutored Ellie before Ellie vanished. Joshua acknowledges the odd overlaps and, recalling a strange discovery, offers to show Laurel the basement.

In the pine-clad basement, Laurel sees a sparsely furnished room with multiple locks, a sofa bed, a TV, and stacked hamster cages that once held animals found dead after Noelle disappeared. The room feels cold and unsettling. Laurel spots a bright watermelon-flavored lip balm under the sofa bed and quietly pockets it.

Back home, Laurel compares the lip balm to Ellie’s belongings and sees it completes Ellie’s set of flavored balms, powerfully suggesting Ellie had been in Noelle’s basement. The discovery intensifies Laurel’s suspicion that Noelle is tied to Ellie’s disappearance.