As Veronica zoned out of the monologue her sister was conducting, she found herself thinking back to Andrew’s childhood and the happy times she had spent with her son and husband.

Often, during the summer, the three of them would rent a mobile caravan on the Norfolk coast. The week would be spent crabbing off Cromer pier and exploring the quaint villages dotted around the rolling countryside. Dennis never did like eating crab, but he enjoyed catching the crustaceans and then letting them go again.

The weather, as is always the case in England, couldn’t be relied upon but it never stopped them from enjoying themselves. During the evening Veronica and Andrew would play cards, while Dennis read a book. Andrew, she now realised, had probably been lonely without a sibling and Veronica found herself wondering why they never had more children. It hadn’t been something she and Dennis ever discussed. Their sex life had declined rapidly after Andrew was born and Veronica had never broached the subject with her husband for fear of looking needy or insecure. She had been brought up to bury her feelings, something that came far more naturally to her sister than it ever had done to Veronica.

As Francesca continued to waffle on about what a perfect daughter she had raised, Veronica found herself wondering why Natalie had emigrated to the other side of the world. Andrew, for all his faults, had never gone far from home. But now he was somewhere in France, alone, on the run from the police. The thought made her heart bleed and she wondered how much more pain she could take. What had she done to deserve this? Veronica had never been a great believer in karma but suddenly she entertained the idea that perhaps she was being punished for something.

She found herself trapped within her own mind unable to escape. The walls of the house began to feel as if they were closing in and her heart started beating furiously in her chest, threatening to break through her ribs.

Finally, Francesca stopped talking, realising something was wrong.

‘Veronica?’ She placed her hand on her sister’s shoulder, but Veronica didn’t appear to hear. ‘Are you all right?’

Veronica couldn’t respond. She was frozen to the spot, unable to move, unable to even blink.

‘What is it?’ Francesca gently shook her sister desperate for a response.

‘Cromer.’

‘Cromer?’

‘I want to go back to Cromer.’

Francesca nodded not understanding what on earth her sister was talking about.

‘Where are my cards?’ Veronica stood, almost knocking her sister over. ‘I need to find my cards.’

Francesca watched as her sister moved around the living room opening every drawer, frantically searching.

‘What cards?’

‘For snap. We need them for snap.’

‘Snap?’ Francesca was completely lost, and she worried that Veronica was losing her mind, but before she could say anything the phone rang.