Contents
Chapter 26
Overview
Laurel meets Sara-Jade at St. Martin’s and probes Noelle’s past. Sara-Jade describes Noelle’s cruelty and reveals she once saw Noelle naked late in pregnancy with no bump, leaving her terrified of newborn Poppy. The account deepens suspicion around Poppy’s origins and ties Noelle more ominously to Ellie’s disappearance.
Summary
Laurel goes to St. Martin’s in Granary Square to find Sara-Jade after learning her schedule from Floyd. She invites Sara-Jade to lunch to discuss the conversation they began about Ellie and Poppy’s mother, Noelle.
Over lunch, Sara-Jade describes life modeling and then shifts to Noelle, whom she remembers as hostile and demeaning, referring to Sara-Jade only as “the girl.” Sara-Jade admits she cried when Noelle became pregnant and avoided the baby, Poppy, because she felt Poppy seemed unreal, like a robot or alien.
Pressed by Laurel, Sara-Jade shares a pivotal memory: when Noelle was around eight months pregnant, Sara-Jade glimpsed Noelle naked and saw no bump. She has never been sure if she imagined it, given her emotional turmoil at the time, but the sight left her terrified of Poppy after the birth. She never told her father, and her mother dismissed the claim.
The conversation leaves Laurel fixated on Noelle, whose image resurfaces sharply in Laurel’s mind. Sara-Jade’s account raises serious doubts about Noelle’s pregnancy and Poppy’s true origins, intensifying Laurel’s unease about Noelle’s connection to Ellie.
Who Appears
- Laurel MackVisits Sara-Jade to probe Noelle’s past; pursues leads about Ellie and Poppy’s origins.
- Sara-Jade Virtue (SJ)Recounts Noelle’s cruelty and claims Noelle had no bump late in pregnancy, fueling doubts.
- Noelle DonnellyDiscussed as manipulative and hostile; alleged to have faked pregnancy late term.
- PoppyDiscussed; Sara-Jade feared her as a baby, intensifying questions about her origins.
- Floyd DunnMentioned; his information lets Laurel find Sara-Jade at St. Martin’s.