Harry had a whole fund of examples, and he tossed a few around in his mind. There was the time his father had made him stand outside and eat his dinner at the patio table for being ten minutes late home one evening, which in itself would have been fine, but it was pouring down with rain at the time. There was also the time when Max had heard him telling Dominic to fuck off. He had been thirteen and totally fed up with his brother for teasing him about a girl at school. Max had dragged him to the bathroom and washed his mouth out with soap. There were many occasions like that but the one which stayed with Harry the most was the time when he was ten and they had this gorgeous Labrador puppy. Owen was always making a fuss of it and one day had forgotten to close the kitchen door properly. The puppy had got into Max’s study and chewed the leg of a chair and crapped under Max’s desk. Owen had been told plenty of times before about letting the dog out, and after discovering the damage Max had been furious. Owen had been so scared of his father that when they heard Max shouting Owen had peed himself. Harry had taken the decision to take the blame for the puppy and gone straight down to his father to confess.

Max Sinclair wasn’t a stupid man and not easily fooled. He had listened to Harry and spoken to Owen, who was too scared to say anything different.

‘So it was definitely Harry who let the dog out and not you?’

Owen had nodded, barely able to speak, let alone look at his father.

‘It was definitely me,’ Harry had insisted, although he could hear the waver of fear in his own voice.

‘Right,’ their father had said. ‘Owen, what’s your favourite toy?’

Owen had looked confused, and he’d shot a look at Harry, who had given the slightest of shrugs. He’d had no idea why his father was asking him that.

‘My model plane,’ Owen had stammered.

‘Go and fetch it, so I can see it.’ Max had squeezed Owen’s shoulder and sent the youngster off to get his prized possession. The next few minutes had been almost unbearable as Max had stood looking at Harry with a small smile on his face. Owen had returned a few minutes later with the plane.

‘Put it on the floor,’ Max had said, and then without batting an eyelid had stamped on it, crushing the plastic toy.

‘No!’ cried Owen, which had only made Max stamp on it again. Owen had known better than to say anything else, but the tears ran down his face.