‘The police were at the house when I got there. They were talking to Joan and she told them that Scarlet must have let herself out when she wasn’t watching and then wandered off. They seemed to accept that, but that didn’t make sense to me. Scarlet would have known not to go off without an adult. It was so out of character.

‘When the police had gone, and for days afterwards, I kept begging Joan to tell me the truth, but she didn’t change her story. It was almost like she was taking pleasure in implying that I was an unfit mother, that I’d failed to bring my daughter up responsibly, and so was as much to blame for Scarlet’s death as anyone else. But I knew that wasn’t right, and so I kept asking her over and over to tell me the truth.’ As she said the words ‘over and over’, she banged her palm on the table for emphasis, the snaking blue veins twisting over the back of her fragile hand.

‘I had to be careful, though,’ she continued. ‘I knew Joan wouldn’t respond well to being blamed, so even though all I wanted to do was scream at her and slap her until she told me what had really happened, I tried to keep my voice calm. The last thing I needed was for her to clam up, because then I’d never find out how it was that my precious baby had ended up outside the house and alone. I’d been over it constantly in my own head and I couldn’t fit it together in a way that made it hold true. So I kept on and on.

‘In the end, Joan snapped. I had been following her around the house asking my questions and we had come to a stop on the landing at the top of the stairs. She was virtually screaming at me, saying that Scarlet was a contrary little madam, just like I had been, and that I should just accept that.’

Pip noticed that Evelyn’s cheeks were burning from the effort of telling her story. She wanted to reassure her, but it wasn’t her place, not until she had heard it all; maybe not even then. Instead she stayed quiet and let Evelyn continue.

‘So I told her that I couldn’t accept it because I just didn’t believe her. I knew my daughter and I knew she wouldn’t just have wandered off like that. And she was ill that day. All she wanted was to sit on the sofa and have a cuddle with me.’ Evelyn’s eyes glazed over with tears at the thought of her unhappy little girl, wanting her mummy when her mummy wasn’t there. Pip could only imagine the agony of that.