But Grandforce and Nanaforce wouldn’t be defeated.

‘Mack will bring him into school and collect him tomorrow,’ Muir said firmly, kindliness under threat from murderous eyes. ‘You can come and pick him up afterwards, Tishy. Handover is at 4.30 p.m. as stipulated. It’s a legal matter, so we suggest you honour it.’

‘We’ve got you scampi and chips for tea tonight,’ Mairi told Kes brightly; his favourite. ‘With Smarties ice cream to follow.’ Also a firm winner. ‘And when Daddy comes home from work he’s bringing that electric doggy you wanted, from Paw Police.’ Hat-trick.

‘Paw Patrol!’ Kes shrieked rapturously, letting go of his mother and crossing back over the divide to those open arms.

Fearing her child had been won with two courses of processed food and a toy so expensive that Mack had squarely rejected it as a Christmas one, Pax started to splinter. Wrong-footed, furious at the low blow – they’d be offering Irn Bru and a guinea pig next – she demanded to know where Mack was. ‘He and I need to talk about this.’

‘He’s still in the office, poor man.’ Mairi sighed sadly. ‘He’s been putting in such long hours. Twice as much work to do since you walked out, of course.’

Pax had her teeth gritted so tight her jaw started cramping. She knew Mack well enough to guess he was only there to avoid his parents and flit between active windows on his five daisy-chained monitors, indulging in the belief that surfing live news streams and sports footage counted as work.

She called his numbers. He didn’t pick up. Still she kept her voice low and calm. ‘Mairi, Muir, let’s go back to the house. We can sort this out there.’

‘No need, dear,’ Mairi countered, artificially bright for Kes’s benefit. ‘Best we head off before you get yourself upset. We’ve the car in the gateway over there, and we don’t need to fetch anything for Kes seeing as he’s got Rab C. We’ve all that he needs at home, haven’t we, Kes?’

‘Paw Patrol!’ Kes roared excitedly.

‘I have the email on my phone, I can double check the dates.’ Pax scrolled the messages furiously, but was unable to find it. ‘Hang on, I’ll call my solicitor.’

‘Dinnae fuss, lass.’ Muir was a standing stone of granite stubbornness beside her. ‘The bairn wants to come home with us.’ His voice, tinged with aggression was just like Mack’s. ‘It’s time you faced the facts.’

‘Face this fact: it’s the wrong day.’ She pressed the phone to her ear, dismayed that Kes had a tight hold of Nanaforce’s hand, eager to be off to meet his Paw Patrol icon. A few paces away, standing on one leg and holding his duster like a Maasai warrior, Ellis watched them, his silver-eyed face impassive.

Poke them in the eye with it! Pax wanted to beg as a recorded voice greeted her and she hurried to find a better signal to leave a message and ring round the other numbers she had for solicitor Helen Beadle. When they all went to voicemail, she started tapping out a frantic text instead. From the corner of her eye, she was eternally grateful to see Bridge launch herself into the fray, keeping the Ms talking. Neither Forsyth being by nature chatty, and both increasingly cold and fractious, it was a doomed mission. Their expressions darkened when Carly and Luca reappeared through the darkness, carrying a brace of brimming polystyrene beakers each.