‘Come on, girls, time to go, or we’ll be late for school,’ Beth says, not daring to look at the state of the room she’s leaving behind. She likes the house to be spotless by this stage of the morning, but everything is out of kilter today. While she tried to hide it, she was shaken up by that second squatter and the anger he directed at her last night. Her attempt to cover up her distress clearly didn’t wash either, because DC Stone insisted on driving her home himself, and then waking Simon to warn him to look out for signs of shock. That led to Simon making Beth a chamomile tea to relax her, while asking a multitude of questions that wound her up.

After a long, hot shower and half a sleeping pill (she knew magnesium wouldn’t cut it) Beth had finally drifted off at about four in the morning, so when her phone started blaring Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ (still her favourite song) three hours later, it had been almost impossible to get up.

Her hands are shaking as she pushes open the front door, and ten steps later, their ornate iron gate. She reaches down to squeeze Martha’s and Ava’s hands in an effort to instil some resilience into her own, but they both seem to sense her ulterior motive and wriggle free. Her jitters could be down to lack of sleep, or the traumatic way her evening ended. But they could also be the result of catching eyes with Saskia when she climbed out of the detective’s car last night. And knowing it’s only a matter of time before her neighbour – and closest friend, she supposes – grills her about it. She would much prefer to put the whole experience behind her, but sadly Saskia isn’t the type to let a drama go unscrutinised.

‘Beth darling!’

She sighs. Saskia lives directly opposite and they usually walk to school together. Of course she wouldn’t be able to avoid this. ‘Hey, Sas, how are you?’ she asks in what she hopes sounds like a casual, indifferent tone. Saskia in an ex-journalist and has an uncanny way of wheedling out any story that piques her interest; in the past Beth has appreciated this skill, but that’s before the story centred around her.