Max stared out of the window at the waning crescent moon in a cloudless sky. Jamie would be tucked up in bed by now, waiting for Santa. Alison had bought him a ridiculous number of gifts for his stocking and on top of that there was a mountain of presents under the tree. He rubbed his fingers across his forehead. Their credit card bill was going to be crazy. Yes he was grateful that Jamie had recovered so well, but was it really necessary to spoil him so much? Or was he being a bad father thinking that? He winced, picturing the disappointment on Jamie’s face when he’d told him he couldn’t be there on Christmas Day. Shit. Why did he ever think it would be easy splitting himself between two families?

When they reached home, the front garden was coated in a crispy layer of frost. Max felt in his pocket for his key. He carried it on a separate fob to Ali’s house. He slipped Chloe off his back into Maddy’s arms and tried all the pockets of his navy woollen coat.

‘Don’t you have your key?’

‘You always have yours.’

‘Why not bring it anyway?’ He hadn’t meant to snap.

‘Let’s not argue, I’m tired, the girls are tired, and my feet are killing me.’

He checked each pocket again. ‘Are you sure I didn’t give them to you?’

‘You definitely did not.’

He stood back and looked up at the house. There was a chance they’d left a window open upstairs. He examined the side gate.

‘What are you doing?’ Maddy sounded irritated.

‘Take the kids next door to Sarah’s, then come back and give me a hand.’

‘You’re not going to climb up there, are you?’

‘I will if I have to, but I think I can take out the window above the letterbox. I reckon I can get my hand in. Do you have a pair of scissors in your bag?’

She let the bag slip down her arm and into his hands. ‘There’s a metal nail file in the small inside pocket. I’ll be back in a minute.’

He took the bag and she carried Chloe, with Emily at her side. He took out the file and eased the pointed edge into the lead trim. Bit by bit he eased out the small pane of glass. It was a solid oak door, not one of these PVC jobs they put in the new houses. There were still jemmy marks indented in the wood where a burglar had tried to prise the door open years before Maddy moved in.