Saskia wonders if she should let Beth know what Kat’s saying about her. All this time, Beth has been scared of her stalker, Mark, and with good reason. But his threat has always been from outside her home, while Kat burrowed her way inside. She even walked Martha and Ava to school on Thursday. Kat said that Beth was sleeping, and Saskia hadn’t questioned it at the time – of course she hadn’t; she was too busy being offended that Beth hadn’t asked her to take the girls – but what seasoned mother sleeps through school drop-off? Was there something dodgy going on even then? She needs to talk to Beth.

But then, she’s only just sent that message about Mark being in hospital. Is she really going to ruin Beth’s blissful family excursion for a second time?

With a jolt of frustration, Saskia pushes away from the doorframe. She eyes the coffee machine that sits centre stage on her island unit. An injection of caffeine is just what she needs to help her decide. At least the house is empty, she thinks as she drops in a capsule and waits impatiently for the thin line of coffee to fill her cup. The children were desperate to go swimming, but luckily Tim knows that chore sits squarely in his camp, along with putting the bins out and sorting the MOT on the car. He’d even offered to make an afternoon of it – swimming at Latchmere Leisure Centre followed by tea at Franco Manca. Saskia had been waving goodbye to the three of them when she noticed Kat pacing up and down the road outside Beth’s house.

She opens WhatsApp on her own phone; the two grey ticks show that Beth hasn’t read her message about Mark yet. She’s clearly having too magical a day with her family to check her phone. Despite everything, Saskia can’t help bristling at that, but at least it gives her more time to decide what to do. She cradles her cup of coffee and thinks. Perhaps she should do some digging first. See if she can find out a bit more about the mysterious Kat. If she finds a link between her and Beth, it means Kat’s telling the truth, so is neither delusional nor dangerous (if you ignore the circumference of her biceps). And it explains why Beth would lean on her more than one might expect of a dog walker. If she doesn’t find any link, she’ll still have more background information to share with Beth.