‘Worst case scenario is that Bee and the others were drinking or smoking dope. Better that I take her there with a barrister from Home Office than French Intelligence cross the Channel to interview her and it becomes a headline.’

‘Do you know what I think?’ Rachel said. ‘That Marianne Attal, or whatever the hell her name is, has something to hide and is trying to drag the British kids down with her.’

‘I think French Intelligence believe the kids saw something while they were getting up to no good the night before the bombing.’

‘Well, if you go I’m coming with you.’

‘Well, you’re not,’ he said, pointing to her belly. ‘Bee says you’re having a C-section. Do you honestly think the French will let you do that if you decide to go into labour in Calais? French hospitals weren’t good enough for the anglais – didn’t you read that headline? They’ll send you back in an ambulance and you’ll have the baby in the tunnel, caught between two worlds, and they’ll call him Little Lord Folkestone —’

‘Shut up, Bish.’ But she was laughing.

‘Look, you know I won’t let anything happen to Bee,’ he said. ‘But the last thing either of us want is for The Sun to be running some trashy piece on her.’

Still Rachel was sceptical. ‘What’s the name of the barrister Home Office is sending?’

‘Marie Bonnaire.’

Rachel was at least happy enough with the name. Almost impressed. ‘You’re going to have to drag Bee there kicking and screaming, you do know that? She won’t go voluntarily. She’s not doing anything much voluntarily these days.’

‘What’s going on?’ They both swung around to see Bee standing at the door, having just returned from a run.

They hadn’t had time to rehearse what to tell her, and in the awkward silence Bee’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Please don’t tell me you guys are getting back together.’

Bish felt insulted. Wasn’t it every kid’s dream to reunite their parents? Obviously not their daughter’s.

‘Just spit it out. The suspense is boring me.’

It was an unspoken certainty that Rachel would handle this better. ‘The French want to question you again about the night before the bomb, sweetheart. They’re not accusing you of anything, they just want to confirm a few things you might have seen or heard.’

Bee looked unconvinced.

‘And if you were experimenting with drugs, so be it,’ her mother said.

‘I was experimenting with drugs when I was fifteen, Rachel. It’s why David called you up to school and you started an affair with him.’

This was the perfect moment for Bish to take over. He was now the favourite parent. ‘It’ll be pretty low-key,’ he said. ‘We’ll have a legal representative, and Captain Attal has insisted there be only one person from French Intelligence interviewing. He’s pretty particular about who speaks to his daughter.’

‘His daughter?’ Bee asked, stunned.

‘Don’t worry about what she’s saying, Bee,’ Rachel said. ‘The Home Office is sending one of their best solicitors and you know that no matter what, I won’t let anything ––’