As soon as he said it, he winced internally. Of course they hadn’t – why would they be doing DIY at a time like this?

The couple paused and glanced at one another. Max spoke in a low voice. ‘I doubt we will now. It’s our guest bathroom. We were refitting it for the Spanish au-pair who was meant to be moving in at the start of next month. I had to email her last night and tell her that we wouldn’t be needing her now after all . . .’

His eyes filled with tears and he sobbed, a single loud harsh sob. For a moment, and to his abject horror, Patrick felt tears rise in his own eyes. He blinked, and had to take a deep breath before he could speak.

‘Oh God. What a terrible email to have to write.’

He was going to add ‘I can’t imagine’ – but the truth was, he could. He could absolutely imagine it. Get a grip, he yelled at himself.

They walked into the kitchen, where Fiona immediately slumped at the huge farmhouse table and lit a cigarette.

‘No need not to smoke in the house any more either,’ she muttered, offering the pack to Patrick. He almost reached his hand out to accept – the muscle memory of a reaction to stress – then shook his head. ‘I smoke the fake ones now,’ he said, showing her his e-cig and having to clench his teeth to resist taking a drag on it before shoving it back in his pocket.

‘Coffee?’ Max asked, and Patrick nodded.

‘Thanks. White, no sugar.’

The coffee, when it came, was bitter and the milk had small oily lumps floating in it. The kitchen bin was overflowing and the cat litter tray by the back door badly needed a clean-out.

‘Don’t you have your Family Liaison Officer with you anymore?’ Patrick asked abruptly. Not that the FLO’s remit would be to clean out the cat’s litter tray, but here was a couple that clearly needed a bit more help. The FLO could organize that. Fiona made a face.

‘We told her to go. We don’t want someone we don’t know hanging around looking sympathetic. It’s hard enough as it is.’

Patrick noticed that all Isabel’s paintings had been ripped off the fridge. He hoped for Max and Fiona’s sake that they had saved them in a folder somewhere and not torn them up and thrown them away in a storm of grief.