‘He told us some serious lies. Very serious. And we can’t be his friend anymore. That’s why he’s not been here for a while.’

‘OK,’ Oliver said, uncertainly. He took another Fruit Chew, studied its wrapper.

‘He’s been really, really, really bad,’ I said. ‘He might have stolen things from us when he was staying here over Christmas. He’s been dishonest about a lot of things. It’s been very hard for Mummy and Daddy because we loved Zac, but we’ve told him we can’t see him anymore and that he can’t come to our house ever again.’

‘So he doesn’t steal more of our stuff?’ Sophie said.

‘Yeah. But the main reason is that I can’t have a liar looking after you kids. I need to be able to trust the people who do that.’

‘Like Biddy?’ Oliver said.

‘Yes, exactly like Biddy. She’s actually the one who told us Zac was a liar.’

‘We can trust you and Mummy,’ Sophie said.

‘Yes, you can. But not Zac.’

She looked at the ceiling, chewed.

‘Do you have any questions?’ I said.

‘Nuh,’ Oliver said.

‘Yes,’ Sophie said. ‘What if we forget we can’t trust Zac anymore?’

‘If that happens, I can just tell you again. And Mummy will tell you too. She’s going to talk to you about it tonight.’

‘Mm-hmm,’ Oliver said.

‘OK,’ Sophie said. ‘Oh, look, Olly, a yellow Fruit Chew.’ She leant forwards, grabbed it.

They seemed happy. I held my knees under the table, bile mixing with the Fruit Chew, heartbeat, heartbeat … ‘There’s something I need to ask you both about that’s very important. You just need to tell me anything that comes to your mind, OK?’

Cheery faces. Oliver nodded.

‘When Zac’s been alone with you, when Mummy and Daddy aren’t here, has he ever done anything that you think might be kind of a lie, or bad behaviour?’

Silence. Consideration.

Oliver spoke first. ‘The only thing I can remember is that he downloaded Moana on his phone.’

‘What’s Moana?’

‘It’s a movie,’ Sophie said.

‘OK,’ I said. ‘And why was that a lie?’

‘I just think it was,’ Oliver said.

‘Did he ever tell you to keep something secret from Mummy and Daddy?’

‘No,’ Sophie said.

‘You’re sure?’

Please no, please no, please no, please no, please –

‘Oh wait, yup,’ Sophie said, reaching for another Fruit Chew.

A burst of sweat beads, cold as ice.

‘I … wait,’ she said. ‘I remember one time, but I don’t remember what it was for.’

‘I think it might have been something to do with food,’ Oliver said. ‘Like, don’t tell your mum and dad we didn’t eat this thing.’

‘What? Like vegetables or something?’

‘Yeah,’ Sophie said. ‘Don’t tell them that we went to the milk bar and got some lollies.’

‘Right,’ I said. ‘So just those kinds of things?’