Lelouche looked amused at the idea of anyone telling Noor how to do anything.

‘It was an ongoing joke between them. Etienne would say his wife could do everything in the world better than everyone else, except cooking. That was his job. He was always with a smile. A laugh. I knew I could trust him, so I told him about my past, why it was impossible for me to ever return to my country, and about my Amina, who was pregnant with our second child, and about Amina’s parents who lived with us. Mine had died in Algiers. We had been lucky to get a temporary visa. When it expired we stayed, scared all the time that we would be found out. But better to take that chance than return.’

The coffee and pastries arrived. When the waiter had gone, Lelouche continued. ‘One day, Etienne and Noor came to my stall to tell me she was going to work on making things right for my family. Noor . . . she was difficult to understand. Not her language, but in here.’ He pointed to his heart. ‘How do you say it? Aloof. But she told me she had filled out immigration and government papers for the Sarrafs all her life. She would be convincing with ours. So she and Etienne spent the next month interviewing us, writing down everything about our life in Algiers and our life in London. At first we were frightened to reveal so much that could place our entire family in danger, or trouble, both here and in Algeria. But it didn’t take long to trust the LeBracs.’

He smiled sadly. ‘Months later, when they came to arrest Noor, she wouldn’t let them in without a warrant. The police believed she used that time to burn evidence of buying material for the explosives, but what she actually burnt were the notes she took about us. Evidence that could have been used to tear my family apart. You see, regardless of how strong our chances were of staying here, we were planning to break the law. Noor had put in an application for Amina and me, but she thought Amina’s parents’ application would fail. So we decided that if we succeeded, my wife’s parents would live here with us illegally. No one would ever discover it.’

Bish put up a hand. ‘Be careful what you tell me here, Mr Lelouche.’

‘Amina’s parents are both dead now, so they can’t be taken from us. My five children got to be held in their grandparents’ arms. That has meant everything to my wife. To me. My own mother and father never had that chance.’ Lelouche fell silent a moment and then said, ‘Noor owed us nothing, yet what she did for us has counted for everything in our lives. So every year after Ramadan I take my children to see her in jail. I tell them that this life we live would not have been possible without Noor and Etienne LeBrac.’