But she was soon going to have to bend or extend her rules in relation to the mobile. Gaby had recently set up a family WhatsApp group, on which Carole received treasured photos and videos of the grandchildren. Lily and Chloe would be coming to stay on their own for a weekend in March and Carole was very much looking forward to their visit. So much so that she had spent a whole weekend redecorating the spare room where they would stay. She had covered the old magnolia emulsion on the walls with a more girly pink, but not been so bold with the gloss on the door, window frames and skirting board. They had been repainted white as before. The project had been hard work because Carole was – no surprise – a very meticulous decorator. She sanded down the old paint on the wooden parts, filled in the crevices with Polyfilla, then used primer and gloss. For the skirting boards, this mean a lot of getting up and down off her knees. Her body felt the effects for a good few days. But she was very pleased with the result and couldn’t wait to see the little girls’ reaction.

By the time they came, she was determined to be a proficient contributor to the family WhatsAppery, so that she could send photos and videos of her granddaughters’ activities back to Fulham. As a result, Carole had started very tentatively teaching herself how, for the first time, to use the camera facility of her phone.

She quickly discovered that the mobile she had was far from state-of-the-art. The cameras on newer phones were much more sophisticated. They had more pixels, whatever they might be. So, Carole didn’t get rid of her old phone but she did buy a new one, which would take better photos and videos. She had ordered it online but did not want to let it be seen in public until her mastery of it was complete. In fact, so far, she hadn’t taken it out of the box.

But she wasn’t going to use either mobile that morning. From the landline in her study she rang the claims line of her insurance company. Once she had gone through the process of identifying herself and giving her policy number, she announced, ‘I have been the victim of vandals who have smashed in the back window of my car.’

‘I’m very sorry to hear that,’ said the Northern female voice at the other end of the line. The sympathy was automatic, impersonal. ‘Have you reported the incident to the police?’

‘No, I haven’t.’

‘Well, you’ll have to. We’ll need a Crime Number before we can process your claim.’

‘Oh.’

Carole must have sounded deflated, because the girl said, ‘It’s a very simple process.’

‘I’m sure it is.’

‘You don’t dial nine-nine-nine, though. You dial one-oh-one.’