‘Oh, Callum.’ For a moment it was as though her heart might rupture.

‘Hey, tell you what, ask Daddy to switch the call to video …’ Any doubt in her mind was cast aside by the sound of her son’s heartache. Besides, what would be the harm? Ivan wouldn’t be coming back for ages.

A couple of moments passed before she saw her son’s image emerge on the screen. A second later, she saw her own face appear in the corner, and an involuntary smile appeared on Callum’s face.

‘Hey, I want to see.’

It was Sadie’s voice and after a brief wobbling motion, her eyes appeared next to Callum’s.

Gabriela’s heart swelled. ‘Hello.’

‘There you are,’ Tom’s voice said and she felt a stab of pain.

‘Hey you.’

‘Mummy, you look tired,’ Sadie said and Gabriela realised she was still in her pyjamas.

‘Hey, let me see where you are …’ Callum said and at the sound of his voice she faltered, though only for a moment. On the brief occasions she had agreed to video-call from the house in London, she’d had to bunker up in one of the bedrooms and pretend to be in a meeting room or the bathroom, without any immediate access to the outside world to share with them.

Now was her chance to prove to them where she was – to show them that she hadn’t lied.

‘Look,’ she said, moving towards the window and unlocking it. Pushing it open, she held the handset out onto the street and let it linger for a moment on the view of the government building that could not be mistaken for anywhere but here.

‘You see that? That’s Moscow.’

As the words came out of her mouth, she felt a wave of self-satisfaction and relief for the evidence she had finally been able to provide them with. When she looked out of the window and saw Ivan’s face looking back at her, she felt such an intense stab of horror that for a second she thought it might have been her mind playing tricks.

Chapter 58

Isobel

It is dark as I stand on the platform at Elephant and Castle, waiting for the train to take me back north, my body pulsing with nervous energy.

Part of me wants to take the next train to Kentish Town and then run the mile or two straight from there to the address Gordana has scrawled on the back of a scrap of paper. But a rational voice in my head tells me to slow down. Not tonight, the voice says. For God’s sake don’t rush this.