Wednesday 21 February

Wednesday 21 February connects two moments when apparent routine gives way to danger: Linda Briggs discovers that her daughters are missing, while Felicity Wanless tries to turn a carefully prepared plan into freedom. The date places the twins’ absence and Felicity’s desperate resistance within the same stretch of the story, though in very different settings.

The Twins Are Missing

The day opens with Linda Briggs preparing breakfast and calling for Terri Briggs and Berri Briggs to come downstairs for school. Their absence initially belongs to the familiar domestic problem of getting the girls out of bed: Linda is impatient, and the threat of punishment for missing school hangs over the morning. But when she pushes open their bedroom door, she finds both twin beds empty. The girls are not merely late or refusing to get up; both daughters are missing. That discovery abruptly turns an ordinary school morning into a family emergency.

Aftermath and a Separate Captivity

The date also falls against the aftermath of Eve Strong’s difficult night. Sitting at her desk feeling dreadful, she has cleared the kitchen and poured the last two cans down the sink, then turned to bourbon. Her brief account supplies a contrasting image of the morning: while Linda’s domestic routine is shattered by the empty beds, Eve is dealing with the consequences of the previous night.

Felicity’s Failed Escape

In the captivity strand, Felicity Wanless uses a bathroom break to prepare for an attempt she has been rehearsing in her head. After the captor leaves her alone, she removes her adult nappy, washes, and stretches; she hopes that the judo she learned when younger will still help her. When he returns and tells her to go to the bedroom, she kicks at his head, catches his shoulder instead, and sends him against the wall. She grabs the dropped rope and runs down the stairs toward the kitchen, the room through which she had first been dragged.

The back door is locked, and Felicity cannot find its key. She reaches for a pan, intending to break a window, but turns as the captor approaches and swings at him instead. He dodges, knocks her off balance, and hits her once, leaving her on the kitchen floor. Her escape fails, but the sequence shows that she has been observing the captor’s routine, preparing physically, and acting on a plan; the locked door and his return turn that preparation into another defeat.