‘Oh, Daddy,’ Ava cries out, curling herself around his leg. Then the playroom door swings open. Luna arrives first, flying into Simon’s arms, oblivious to the dense atmosphere. Then Martha comes next and soon it’s a tangle of limbs and fur. Beth tries to draw strength from the scene, at least enough to work out how much of what’s happened to tell Simon. She wonders if she’s got enough energy to conceal the bits that must stay secret.

‘A scary man came to the school,’ Martha pipes up.

Simon’s head swerves towards her. ‘What?’

‘He spoke to Ava. He made her cry.’

‘I didn’t cry.’

‘Simon, can we talk about this later?’ Beth squeezes the words through her constricted throat. She watches him pull his phone out of his pocket, then seconds later, slip it back in.

‘No. I want to talk about it now. Is it this Mark character?’

Beth bites her lip and stares at the floor. There’s a tiny indent in the mahogany wood, next to the table leg. She imagines dust collecting there.

‘Have you contacted the police? Because if you haven’t, Beth, we’re doing it now.’

‘Simon, not in front of the children,’ she whispers.

‘But he’s targeting our children now, isn’t he?!’ Beth blinks in shock; Simon never raises his voice with her.

‘Or in front of Kat,’ she pleads.

Simon turns to face Kat. ‘You’re the dog walker,’ he spits out, but his face instantly drops. ‘Sorry, that was rude.’

‘Kat picked us up from school,’ Ava interjects. ‘I wanted to go home.’

‘Why didn’t Mummy pick you up?’ He turns towards Beth. ‘Where were you?’ He sounds so accusing.

‘She bought us hot chocolates.’ Ava’s voice trembles.

‘Shall I go?’ Kat’s voice. Calm and strong. ‘Now that you’re both back?’

‘How much do we owe you?’ Simon pulls a slim wallet out of his back pocket. Following etiquette, despite the circumstances. Only his trembling fingers defy him. Beth watches him squeeze it open, like a Venus flytrap, revealing a wad of different-coloured notes. Her phone vibrates in her pocket. She sways, lets it ring out.

‘Is fifty enough?’ Simon mutters, still agitated. Beth wishes Kat wasn’t leaving, she suddenly realises; she doesn’t want to be alone with her husband. ‘We don’t ever use nannies,’ he mutters. ‘So I’ve no idea.’

‘Will you look after us again, Kat?’ Martha asks plaintively.

‘Ooh yay!’ Ava squeals.

The voices swirl around Beth’s head. Her phone vibrates again. She wonders if Simon is going to leave her. Or if Mark is still in her wardrobe. Or if her dad has died. She wonders if it was actually Eddie lying outside that shop, his ghost come to haunt her in an old man’s body. The dent in the floor is growing. Opening up like a seismic ravine.