Four years. Robin remembered her that first day in the hallway, her currant-bun eyes in the dark. Then she thought of Gamil. After the episode with Harry, she’d assumed Valerie didn’t use the bakery because it was Indian-run but actually she didn’t use any shops.

‘The Internet’s been a lifesaver for her. And for me – if she couldn’t order from Tesco online, I couldn’t have left.’

‘You went to Devon, though, didn’t you? A week’s holiday, when you were sixteen. There’s a photo on the fridge.’

‘The place was booked for a week. We were there one night. Mum had a panic attack when it got dark and we had to get the first train home in the morning.’

‘What about work?’

‘She doesn’t.’

‘How? I mean, financially …’ Mentally, all of it.

‘Dad’s life insurance and some other investments he had. They’d only had a little mortgage, they bought the house from Mum’s parents, and she paid that off straight away. The rest covered school fees and our living costs but it’s running out. No, it’s run out.’ She hesitated. ‘I’ve been supporting us both since I left school. Not very well, we haven’t had much – my job didn’t pay much, especially for two people to live on. It would have been impossible if we’d had a mortgage. So I got the job at The Spot and that’s where it all fell apart. Or came together, depending on how you look at it. Or who you are.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I started there for the money, it was tough being so broke all the time, but then I got to know the other people who worked there and I looked at their lives and … I had this moment in the back room one night when I just thought – what the fuck am I doing? Loads of them – like, half – are over here travelling, seeing the world, and I just …’ She shrugged. ‘I saw my life and what it was going to be like and I … didn’t want it.’

‘Living at home? You wanted to travel?’

‘Yeah, that, but not just … I realized I wasn’t doing anything. I was just messing around. It was like this whole … syndrome.