I know the answer to that question now but I still can’t comprehend it. As I sat in the office with Claire’s hand on my shoulder I was told that when Sean left he terminated his tenancy agreement on the house. I told them there must be some mistake; we owned Larkfields and had done for ten years. Then came the first bombshell. Mike Saunders, reading from a piece of paper, leaned forward and calmly told me that Sean had sold the house seven years ago to a property company called BH2 Properties. He had rented Larkfields from them ever since.

None of it made any sense. If Sean had sold the house I would have known. Of course I would have known. But then came the next bombshell: after terminating the contract Sean had emptied his bank account. He was the main breadwinner, this money was our sole income source. As I tried to take in the deluge of information I could hear them asking me questions: ‘Do you have any other source of income, Mrs Allan?’ ‘Do you have any savings, pension, ISAs?’ ‘How about inheritance?’ I knew the answer to all of these and it was ‘No, no, no.’ I have nothing. Absolutely nothing.

‘Okay, Maggie,’ says Amanda as she stops the car and takes off her seat belt. ‘Here we are.’

I look out of the window. I recognize this street. It’s a few blocks from the leisure centre. My heart hurts as I remember little Elspeth standing outside waiting for me to collect her after Sophie Bailey’s birthday party. It was a few weeks before the accident. She didn’t normally like big noisy events, but she always loved going to Sophie’s parties. They were best friends and they both loved music. Elspeth had been so excited because this was a disco-themed party with a DJ and glitterball. I had been excited too because the party meant that I would have a couple of hours to myself once I’d dropped her off. It was the anniversary of my mother’s death, and I knew that the only thing that would make me feel better would be to sit at my desk and lose myself in words.