The tablets are already in my hand and I’m pouring a glass of water when I stop dead. This isn’t going to take the pain away. The only way I can deal with this is to offload the holdall and get the police off my back. Then I can ring social services and set up a meeting with them. Then I can see Charlie and Laura.

Of course, the nagging doubt in my head comes in the form of your mother. She’ll do anything she can to discredit me and put a stop to social services’ arrangements. It suddenly strikes me that that’s the reason she was round here the other day, taking photos through my back window. She’s trying to find a reason.

I look out of the hallway window at the skip on my drive. If I can make a start on clearing things, when they come round to inspect the house ready for the kids to come they’ll see that I’m making an effort. Because I am.

I drop the Tramadol into the sink and run the water. They disappear in a swirl and the pain is still there. I walk up to the main road and check Frances’s phone again and there are two text messages from her friends: U OK hun? and Got that bug? Of course, the shop would still be shut. But all this has given me an idea.

I cheer up a bit and order a pizza as I walk back home. While waiting for it to come, I Google ‘How to unlock an Android phone’ on made-up Monica’s mobile. It’s a choice between losing any data that’s not on the SD card and being able to read Frances’s messages and listen to her calls from now on. And have access to her social networking, hopefully.

Until now I’ve had the battery and SIM card out while I’m at home or at work. I know all about ‘Find my phone’. So I walk down to the tram stop at the park and jump on the next tram. After three stops I prise open the back and take out the SD card. Fingers crossed all her numbers are on there. I hold the volume up, home and power buttons together, take a deep breath and choose ‘wipe all data’.

It reboots and I go through the motions, switching off, reinserting the SD card and switching on again. Yes. The contacts button reveals all Frances’s contacts. The call log and texts are gone but never mind, I’ll be able to fully see what’s going on now. Almost immediately the phone rings and I let it go to answerphone. When I listen to the message, it’s another friend.

‘Hi, Franny. Just wondered what happened to you today? I thought you were coming round? Give us a call.’