After two large mugs, Theodor had started talking, trying to put into words how things had been for him. How the idea of taking his own life had been there on and off over the past few years but more so recently, growing stronger until everything felt completely meaningless. Like an endless uphill slog until it was finally over.

He’d explained how he’d sat there, on the edge, waiting for the train to come, with nothing to lose. That it had all been about letting go at the right moment to make sure he didn’t miss. But when his father – yes, he had in fact called him father – had come to save him, risking his own life in the process, everything had changed. Suddenly, he’d had everything to lose.

Sonja hadn’t said a word the whole time, just nodded agreement from time to time and squeezed his and Theodor’s hands harder and harder.

They were finally beginning to find their way back, Fabian thought as he got out of the car and doubled back on foot through the trees behind the houses. He could physically feel that recent events marked the start of something new. Something that, if all went well, might actually be really good.

The back of the garden consisted of a big lawn patrolled by a third security guard, who was scanning the area as though he were guarding an embassy. The luxury cars parked in a row along one side of the lawn were his in. Crouching behind them, he could get almost the whole way to the back of the house, where a short flight of steps led up to a door.

What remained was about thirty feet during which he’d have no semblance of cover. He looked over at the security guard, who was now standing still in the middle of the lawn. A flame sparked to life in the dark and was followed by a red dot, indicating that the man had stopped to light a cigarette.

The moment the glow of the cigarette disappeared, Fabian left his hiding place behind a Jaguar and dashed across the grass, praying the guard would keep his back turned long enough for him to reach the steps and the door at the top of them.

He did. Unfortunately, the door was locked, and he didn’t even have time to get his lock pick out before the motion detector and the spotlight above the door bathed him in light.

‘Hey! You!’ the security guard shouted. Fabian could almost hear him putting out his cigarette and hurrying towards him across the lawn.

Options flickered through Fabian’s mind like a spinning wheel of fortune, which eventually stopped on an attempt to try to reach the half-circle terrace above him. Without any idea what awaited him, he threw himself at the drainpipe.

‘What the fuck. Hey!’