‘Yes, but he’ll be fine,’ I said quickly. ‘He’s done nothing wrong; they just think he can help them work out what happened.’ She dropped on to the stairs and buried her face in her arms. I could do nothing but stroke her back. She flinched from my touch. ‘He’ll be with us soon.’ Her mouth opened as if she were trying to form words, but closed again as tears began to course down her cheeks. ‘I have to …’ she sobbed, trying to speak. ‘My mum. I …’ But she couldn’t go on and I gave her a few minutes just to cry.

‘You’ll be all right,’ I said again, at a loss for anything else to say, anything with depth to it. I wanted to talk more to Charles, to see if there were anything we could do for Nick, but right now this girl needed me.

‘No,’ she whispered.

‘You will.’

She gazed up at me and her expression changed, as if she were making her mind up about something. ‘I have to go back to my house,’ she said, her mouth still twisted by sadness.

‘What?’ I couldn’t understand. Did she want to say goodbye to her mother? ‘Why?’

‘I just have to go there. I need to get something.’

‘What is it?’

She froze. I turned to see Charles with his arms folded. Hazel looked at her feet. ‘What are you talking about?’ he said. ‘Perhaps I can help.’

‘Thank you, but no,’ I said forcefully.

‘As you wish.’ He walked back to his chair and I closed the door behind him – this looked to be something that Hazel wanted to keep private.

‘Hazel, you can’t,’ I whispered. ‘It’s … you just can’t. The police won’t let you.’

‘I’m going!’ she said defiantly.

What could I say? ‘Oh, Hazel, I can’t think what you’re going through, but I have to make sure you’re all right. Do you want your clothes? I’ll lend you some.’ She looked at me, then suddenly broke away and ran out the door. She was in such a state of distress that I was worried what she would do. ‘Hazel!’ I shouted, as I grabbed my purse and keys from the table and chased after her along the smog-filled road. I caught up with her after twenty paces and pulled her, struggling, to the side of the pavement. ‘You can’t go there. It’s not safe!’ I insisted. I was becoming almost as wild as her. I held her tightly and she tried to fight me off. ‘Hazel, that’s enough. It’s not safe for you or for your dad.’ She kept tugging away from me, but with less fervour.

‘I need to get something,’ she said to the ground.

‘What? Tell me.’

She wiped her face. She was trying to remain defiant but it wasn’t really in her. ‘Something of Mum’s.’