He gathers himself. ‘I want you to promise me something, Layla. Go to those bastards and beg for your job back.’

‘Are you going to waste time arguing with me about that? When we could be doing this?’ She stands on tiptoes, kisses his mouth. When she hears a sound beside them, she glances over to see Eddie standing at the door with a plate of pita and baked egg yolks.

‘I’m so confused,’ the kid says. ‘I can’t get heads or tails of who’s related.’

‘We’re not related,’ Jimmy says, and can’t help laughing. Eddie disappears back inside.

A waiter steps out for a smoke, eager to talk football with Jimmy, so Layla goes to find Violette and Eddie. When he sees her, Eddie whispers something in Violette’s ear and wanders off. Layla receives a loaded stare from a frightening miniature version of Aziza Sarraf. It’s the same look Jimmy’s mother had given her when Layla was seventeen and started sleeping with him. ‘If your mother finds out, it will all end in tears, habibi.’

It ended in tears for so many different reasons.

‘Gigi reckons you were wasted at that dumb place you got sacked from,’ Violette says.

‘Thank you?’ Layla is unsure if it’s a compliment.

‘I’ve got some money saved, so I’d like to hire you, Layla.’

‘Hire me?’

‘For Noor.’

‘Oh Violette, I’m not the right person to be talking to. I’m a solicitor.’

‘Who’s out of a job because she sent an email to the Skipton police asking about my father’s death. Gigi overheard you telling Jocelyn. She says you’ve got a file. We think you’re the right person. It all begins with a solicitor.’

‘Violette —’

‘All my mother needs is someone smart who won’t give up. That’s what keeps happening – people give up because it’s too hard, or the timing is wrong.’

‘I’ll tell you what,’ Layla says. ‘I’ll find out all I can about what happened with your father —’

‘My father would have wanted you to take care of my mother first,’ Violette says. ‘He loved you, Layla. The way he loved Uncle Jimmy. He used to tell my mum that Brackenham breast milk must have been pretty potent. That when a Bayat and Sarraf put their heads to something, they never gave up.’

Layla sees a glimpse of tears, feels them sting her own eyes.

‘I’ll give you all the money I have,’ Violette says. ‘Just get my mum out of there.’

Jimmy returns with Eddie on his heels.

‘Pity we can’t go on one of those double-decker bus tours,’ Violette says, as if the intense conversation with Layla hasn’t happened. ‘Eddie wants to see Big Ben and I want to see where Wills and Kate live when they’re in London.’

‘Yeah, heartbreaking,’ Jimmy says, his voice gruff with affection. He puts an arm around each kid. ‘What were you speaking to Bilal about?’ he asks Violette.

‘A favour,’ she says. ‘His two firstborn children.’