Paula gave a sad little laugh. ‘Once upon a time, maybe. Now I’m not so sure. Whatever the glue was that held those two together seems to have come unstuck. And besides, she’s not a cop any more.’

‘All the better, surely? Paula, I know you. You need to do something or you’re going to be awake all night, smoking too much and drinking too much coffee and twitching. And taking years off your life, which makes me very unhappy because I need you to be around for a very long time. Go and find Carol. Let her do the heavy lifting.’

Paula shook with silent laughter. ‘You’re crazy. You say “go and find her” like it was straightforward. She’s gone off the radar. Even Stacey doesn’t know where she is.’

‘Stacey only knows machines. You know people.’

Elinor’s words triggered something inside Paula’s head. Not quite fully formed, but the teasing start of something. It was interrupted by the doorbell. ‘That’ll be the taxi,’ Elinor said. ‘I’ll see Rachel off the premises. Don’t move, I’ll be right back.’

Preoccupied, Paula opened the fridge for a third time and took out a plastic container of leftover chilli. She flipped the edge of the lid open and stuck it in the microwave. By the time Elinor returned, she was forking it into her mouth, frowning into the middle distance.

‘She’s gone,’ Elinor said. She sighed. ‘It hasn’t been an easy afternoon. She wants to take Torin to Bristol with her.’

‘That’s good, surely?’

‘Except that Torin doesn’t want to go. His arguments are very reasonable – his friends are here, his school, his band —’

‘He’s in a band?’

‘Apparently he sings. Who knew? Also, he wants to be somewhere that holds memories of his mum. Not ripped out of the ground and transplanted to a strange city to live with people he barely knows.’

‘Like you say, reasonable.’ Paula was focusing on Elinor now, realising there was more going on than was being said. ‘And?’

‘It’s a “but” really, not an “and”. But he has no family here. And he’s only fourteen.’ She took a deep breath. ‘He wants to stay with us, Paula. At least until his dad deploys back to the UK.’

Paula’s eyes widened. ‘Here? Living with us?’

Elinor pushed a stray strand of hair from her face. ‘I don’t know how I can say no.’

Paula’s smile was wry and knowing. ‘Even if you wanted to. Fuck, Elinor, this wasn’t in my life plan. Somebody else’s teenage kid.’

‘Right now, he’s a good kid, Paula. What happens to him next will determine if he carries on being a good kid. You know that. You see the results of fucked-up young men every working day. So do I. A&E is full of them. I think we should say yes.’