‘I can only see his back.’

‘Can you go and question him?’

‘And ask him what?’

‘I don’t know. He may be the man who’s run off with my granddaughter. You remember her? Chloe? She’s gone off with some old bald man.’

‘I’m on it.’ Carol cut off.

Theresa remained immobile at the top of the stairs. She knew it would be unwise to say anything to Imogen until she heard again from Carol.

She got up and made her way to her bedroom. As she reached the door, Cressida came out of her own bedroom, rubbing her eyes.

‘Oh, it’s you, Grandma. I thought Chloe was home.’

Theresa gave Cressida a squeeze.

‘The man – you know, Chloe’s friend. Was he in the playground or at the gates, or where?’

Cressida gave a shrug as though Theresa was stupid, and said in that swooping tone, ‘Noooo! He was in the assembly hall. But he was a long way away. I didn’t really see him. I was bored.’

Theresa’s fingers gripped Cressida’s shoulder.

She was getting somewhere.

But at that moment the phone in her pocket buzzed again.

‘Hi, Theresa. I ran across the road but once I’d locked the van he’d vanished. I can’t imagine how he disappeared so quickly. Really. I can have only averted my eyes for fifteen seconds and whoosh – gone!’

‘Did you look up the hill?’

‘Of course. I looked in every direction. I’m beginning to wonder if he wasn’t a hallucination.’

Lola, already dressed in her school uniform, came out of the bedroom and dragged Cressida back inside.

‘Oh, and by the way, you’d better get back here pretty damn quick, or La Mosaïque is going to fold in days. Three days ago we might have been in the ketchup, but now we’re positively swimming in it.’

From downstairs, Imogen let out an anguished cry.

‘I have to go, Carol. Speak soon.’

Theresa ran down the stairs as fast as she could.

Imogen was standing in the kitchen, holding her hand under the cold tap. ‘Burned myself. Stupid.’

‘Shall I . . . ?’

‘Just leave me alone.’

Theresa crept back up the stairs and quickly dressed. When she came back down Cressida and Lola were tucking into breakfast.

‘I’ve decided to go into school today,’ said Imogen. ‘With the girls. So please could you stay here, just in case. Hold the fort.’

Theresa said yes. What else could she do? But she wondered why on earth she was here.