Drifting in and out of sleep, Julia’s mind replayed snatches of the morning’s events but she couldn’t tell which bits were real and which were scenarios conjured in her dreams. Her falling over had definitely happened – she had bruised knees and bloodied palms as evidence – but Ewan swearing at her, telling her to go home? It wasn’t like him to use the F-word in public. That bit can’t have been real.

She must’ve rolled over onto her side and fallen into a deeper sleep, because when she came to again the digital clock on the DVD player said it was 18:05. She ungainly got to her feet in an ungainly fashion and walked to the kitchen, clutching the walls for support. She could no longer be classified as staggeringly drunk, but she felt terrible. Mouth parched, head pounding, the makings of an epic hangover.

She went straight to the sink and gulped down two large glasses of water.

‘Sore head?’ asked Ewan from behind his laptop.

‘I feel awful.’

‘You won’t get any sympathy from me,’ he said curtly. ‘You were a disgrace.’

His anger shook her.

‘I know, and I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know the police were going to call us.’

‘DS Renshaw warned us at the police station that they might need to see us at short notice, when she asked us to stay in Mansell. You couldn’t even stay sober for a few hours.’

‘It was only a couple of drinks,’ she protested.

‘You were threatened with arrest, for crying out loud.’

‘Was I?’ Julia was appalled she couldn’t remember. ‘By who?’

‘DS fucking Renshaw, that’s who,’ Ewan shouted at her. ‘Can you imagine if she had nicked you? The officer questioning Poppy arrests her mum for being abusive and too fucking pissed to stand up straight.’

Julia quailed, his tirade pinning her to the kitchen unit. She had never seen him so angry.

‘Daddy, don’t.’

Neither of them had noticed Poppy coming into the kitchen. She was teary-eyed and trembling as she looked from one parent to the other.

‘This is all my fault you’re arguing,’ she cried.

‘No, it’s not. It’s mine,’ said Julia. ‘Daddy’s right, I did a stupid thing.’

She went to hug her daughter but Ewan got there first.

‘I’m very sorry we upset you,’ he said, kissing the top of Poppy’s head and smoothing her hair. ‘I just got a bit angry at Mummy, but we’ve sorted it out now.’

Watching Ewan lie so effortlessly to their daughter when they both knew the row was far from over reminded Julia that she still hadn’t got to the bottom of what Poppy had told him on that first day in the head’s office.

‘Are you two keeping something from me?’

Ewan stared at her as though she was mad. ‘What are you going on about?’