Helen took both flights of stairs two at a time, almost slipping on the bottom one as she’d swung around the newel post and pushed past her husband. Sean tried to grab her but she slipped out of his reach and ran over to where Alice was still fast asleep on the sofa.

‘Alice – Alice! Where’s Frankie? She’s not in her bed, I can’t find her. Where is she? Wake up!’ She shook her stepdaughter’s shoulder but even though Helen was yelling in her ear, Alice had just groaned and buried her face in the sofa cushions.

‘Wake up, you stupid, irresponsible little—’

‘Helen!’ Sean barked. ‘That’s not helping. Alice – wake up sweetheart. We need you to wake up.’ He too had shaken the girl’s shoulder, softly at first but then with more urgency as she still didn’t open her eyes.

‘Hel, she looks really poorly,’ Sean said, rolling her over onto her back. ‘Why won’t she wake up?’ He had patted her cheek gently and bent over her, sniffing, presumably for alcohol or drugs. Helen had to clench her fists behind her back to prevent herself actually slapping Alice awake.

‘Oh Sean, what if she went outside? Alice was passed out, she could’ve just wandered out into the street, anything could have happened. What do we do?’

The last word rose on a wail of increasing panic. Helen’s head was full of images of people carrying away children; the grainy hooded figure caught on CCTV unstrapping Liam from his car seat and running; the faceless thief who had taken Izzy from her house . . .

‘It’s him!’ she had gasped, unable to breathe at all. ‘The same person who took Izzy and Liam, I know it. I knew something bad was going to happen, I felt it, and now look – ALICE, WAKE UP!’

She had bawled into her ear, and Alice moaned and thrashed on the sofa. It was true, she did not look at all well, but at that moment Helen felt nothing but frustration and irritation. Every moment spent trying to get her to wake up was a moment when Frankie could be further away. She dashed through the open plan living room into the kitchen, filled a glass of water and ran back, throwing it right into Alice’s face, the water rushing through Sean’s fingers as he instinctively raised a hand to stop it.

The girl had finally opened her eyes and squinted up at them, water streaming off her cheeks and eyelids. She spluttered as some went in her mouth. ‘Wha . . . wha?’

‘Talk to her, Sean,’ barked Helen. ‘I’m going to check the garden and the garage.’ Later she would be glad that Alice had been sufficiently out of it not to have been aware of the tone of her voice. She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh.