I shoved the coat at the pig and she initially jumped back, but then hesitated and stepped forward to sniff it. I clicked and threw food. I knew I needed to tell Bex what I was doing, but it was taking all my concentration watching the pig and rewarding her for doing what I wanted.

I rewarded the pig when she focused on the coat, or touched the coat. Once she even mouthed it.

‘Put the coat on the floor,’ Bex said. ‘We need it to move towards Dad’s coat, and we need her to bite it, so we can eventually get her to drag Dad’s coat to you. She can do it, because she knows how to fetch a dog-toy.’

‘Don’t panic me! It’s too complicated. But she’s touching it.’ I tried not to think about Tony out there. Patching up his wound. Coming back to finish the job he’d started. How could he have kept his family locked up for thirty years? Ivan had tried to escape, but had been so horrifically damaged by his life that he ended up raping Bex, his own sister. And Kirsty had known. I was sure now that Kirsty and Tony had killed to keep this secret. And my instincts had been right about Daniel after all. He’d been framed.

The pig snuffled at the coat on the floor. I rewarded her.

I knew the principles. We needed the pig to start biting the coat or she’d never pull it anywhere. But this was hard. I remembered with Hamlet. Not rewarding the paw movement he’d been rewarded for before. Waiting a little longer. Hoping he’d raise that little black-and-white paw higher so I could click and give him one of the Dreamies cat treats he loved so much. Thinking about Hamlet made me want to cry. Would Hannah want him? Or Mum? Because there was no way this insane plan was going to work. No way I was getting out of here alive.

‘Don’t be afraid to withhold the click,’ Bex said. ‘It might not be the best training, but biting’s what a pig naturally does when she’s frustrated.’

The pig bit the coat. Yes! I clicked and threw food, while in the back of my mind, I was wondering if I should have lived differently. Was Mum right when she said I was a workaholic? Should I have worked less and lived more? Seized opportunities for happiness? I thought of all Jai’s subtle overtures that I’d ignored. Had I been wrong?

The pig bit the coat and inadvertently dragged it slightly towards me. My pulse quickened.

‘She dragged it,’ I said, ‘but I need to get her to drag your dad’s coat, not this dummy one.’

‘Can you throw the dummy coat near to Dad’s coat? Just keep away from her teeth.’