We agreed that he would take the train from London to Banbury the following morning and I would pick him up from there. That was, I thought, if I hadn’t been beaten up or burned to death by the two balaclava wearers in the meantime.

For about the fifth time, I went round checking that all the doors and windows of the house were securely locked.

Suddenly, with the arrival of a container full of petrol, I realised this was no longer a game. Sure, those two boneheads had probably been responsible for burning down Gary Bremner’s stables and, quite likely, they were also guilty of his murder, but this was me and mine, and that was a different matter altogether.

I called Charles.

‘Fancy a coffee?’

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Where?’

‘Here, preferably. If you can.’

‘Give me an hour, I’m still in my pyjamas.’

While I waited for him to arrive, I called Marina, but it was Saskia who answered her phone.

‘Hello, Daddy,’ she said excitedly. ‘Mummy’s in the shower.’

‘That’s all right, Sassy, my darling. I’d much rather talk to you anyway. How are you?’

‘I’m bored,’ she said, sounding it, ‘and I want to come home.’

‘But you always love staying with Opa and Oma.’

‘Not this time. I hate it that Opa is sick. And Mummy cries all the time.’

‘Darling, Mummy is very sad that Opa is unwell. That’s why she cries.’

I wondered if Marina was also crying over the collapse of her marriage.

‘Now be a good girl,’ I said. ‘And look after Mummy for me.’

‘Why don’t you come here? Then you could look after her yourself.’

I sighed inwardly. ‘I will come just as soon as I can. It must be nice having your Uncle Elmo there.’

‘I don’t really remember him.’

‘That’s all the more reason for getting to know him now.’

‘But I miss Rosie,’ she said miserably.

‘Rosie misses you as well,’ I said. ‘But she’s being a good girl too. I took her with me yesterday all the way to Yorkshire. She absolutely loved being in the car, and you should have seen her running along the moors looking for rabbits. She had a wonderful time.’

For obvious reasons, I didn’t also say that she had been barking at masked intruders.

‘Will you tell Mummy that I phoned and ask her to call me later?’

‘Okay,’ she replied gloomily. ‘But please can I come home? I’ve got to go to Annabel’s birthday party.’

‘That’s not for another whole week. I hope you’ll be home by then.’

I was trying to sound encouraging, but it was breaking my heart to hear my daughter so sad, especially when I couldn’t even give her a cuddle to cheer her up.

‘Don’t forget to tell Mummy.’

‘I won’t.’

‘I love you, my darling.’

‘Love you too, Daddy. Bye.’