‘Yes, I know that,’ said Carole testily. Although she didn’t. The person she was talking to had no idea her caller had ever worked for the Home Office, but Carole still never liked to admit ignorance on police matters.

‘Get back to us when you’ve got the Crime Number and then we can proceed and put you in touch with one of our authorized windscreen repair services.’

‘But I’ve already arranged to have the glass repaired. I can’t leave my car open to anyone who wants to help themselves to the contents.’

‘Are you saying that you keep valuables in your car? Because if you do, we would recommend that you remove them as soon as possible.’

‘That’s not the point. The point is that the glass is already being repaired.’

‘May I ask the name of the company that is effecting that repair?’

Carole supplied the name that Bill Shefford had given her.

‘Can you just hold for a minute, Mrs Seddon?’ There was a long silence, but not, mercifully, long enough to be filled by music. Then the girl came back on the line. ‘I’m very sorry, Mrs Seddon. I’m afraid that is not one of the companies authorized by us.’

‘So, what are you saying?’

‘I am saying that, if you get your glass repaired by that company, your insurance with us will not cover the expense.’

Carole could think of a lot of responses to that, many involving expressions like ‘cartel’, ‘restrictive trade practices’ and ‘mutual back-scratching’. But she did not give any of them voice. She simply rang off, seething with fury.

Most of that fury, of course, was addressed to herself. She knew what she should do. The windscreen repairer summoned to Shefford’s probably hadn’t even started on the job yet. She should ring Bill and put him off. Then she should dial 101 and get a Crime Number. She should also tell the police in that call about the unpleasant message still lying on her kitchen floor. She had, after all, been deliberately targeted by a criminal.

But, because she was Carole Seddon, she did none of these things. Because all of them would have drawn public attention to her shortcomings. She should have known about the limitations of her car insurance. Or at least she should have checked its provisions before she authorized the repair. And someone who had spent most of her career at the Home Office should have known the right thing to do was to report the crime.