Izzy had insisted on staying; she refused to abandon her best friend. It can’t possibly be true that she’s in danger, that there’s some peril lurking at Eve’s, picking off children one by one. Ash drowned in a terrible accident, Sorrel is missing; separate tragedies. Melissa doesn’t reply; in this mood, he’ll argue with whatever she says.

‘I’ve had enough of the police and their bloody questions.’

She glances at him, the flushed face and dilated pupils. He must have been at the wine all afternoon; a glass at his elbow while working, frequently replenished. He’d had more when he arrived at Eve’s. The alcohol has tipped him into paranoia; she’s seen it before.

‘The police were simply doing their job.’ She tries to speak soothingly though her voice trembles; when he’s drunk like this he takes it out on her later. ‘I was questioned, everyone was. It wasn’t just you.’

The Mercedes shudders to a halt by a zebra crossing, allowing two old men to walk over the road, but Paul steps on the accelerator while they are only halfway across and their terrified faces flash white in the headlights.

‘If you hit someone on a crossing, it’s manslaughter.’

He doesn’t answer, he’ll probably punish her for that remark too. He turns into their road and speeds towards the house, his fingers clenched on the wheel. Melissa grips the edge of her seat, sweating in fear. The electronic gates swing open just in time and the car screeches in. The security lights flash on, lighting up her car on the forecourt, but it’s too late. The crash of metal against metal is deafening. Her body slams up against the seat belt.

‘What a bloody stupid place to leave your car,’ he yells. ‘You can fucking well pay for it.’

She gets out trembling. Thank God Izzy hadn’t been with them. The side of her car is badly dented and the windows are smashed, though his seems unscathed.