We traced her complicated flight path. She’d gone from London to Ireland, from Ireland to Switzerland, and there she had met her money. Part of me marvelled at her ingenuity, at the reminder it provided that she was always the brightest of my children. She would read whole novels to herself at ten, while the other two were so bovine at the same age that they virtually mooed. It was why I had to be so hard on her: it was always difficult to steer her path when she was ten steps ahead. Sophie would agree with my assessment. ‘She was the one who always saw through your bullshit,’ she shouts when I see her, red-faced and ugly in her grief.

That Swiss bank account provided an important clue: her co-signatory was one Amber Greville. Amber had been looking forward to her share of the cash, but my clever girl was one step ahead. The money briefly landed in the bank, one of the few that opened on a Saturday, before she swiftly withdrew it and turned it into Bitcoin. Then she boarded a plane to San Diego, upgrading to business class at the airport. I study these little clues like a spurned lover, trying to imagine her state of mind at each pivotal juncture: was she thinking of me? Did she know how much I yearned for her to come back to me?

After that, the trail goes cold. It’s close to Mexico, easy perhaps to smuggle yourself over the border without too much fuss. Or did she fly further into South America, Costa Rica perhaps, hiring a discreet private plane with her fistfuls of money?

What about me, I hope you’re asking. What about the mother, who tried to do everything right for her children and faced some impossible choices along the way? Perhaps what I tell you next will win me some redemption in your eyes.

Nick’s situation was extremely precarious: as a lawyer who was now in breach of contract, having failed to protect his client’s funds, his entire livelihood was left in jeopardy. Our daughter, and the cash, were nowhere to be seen. Amber Greville claimed total ignorance as to her whereabouts, and I felt, with a grim sense of satisfaction, that she was telling the truth. Rachel had summarily rejected her, leaving her to face the music without a penny to show for it.