Every car behind her, every bike that pulled alongside, every van that raced past drew her eyes from the road ahead, so much so that she was surprised she hadn’t crashed. Now, hearing that voice, and a background of applause, she stared at the radio, which Miller’s ‘tech chap’ had wired his own speaker into. Her breath caught: was that?… couldn’t be…

‘Doctor, doctor, I get heartburning every time I eat birthday cake. Well, take the candles off.’

But it was. The realisation hit like a jolt of electricity and the car rocked as she accidentally stamped the accelerator. Josie. Josie’s voice. At first she didn’t understand.

‘When is birthday cake like a footballs?’

‘Golf ball,’ Nick whispered.

‘I know, I know. When is birthday cake like golfs ball? When it’s been sliced.’

She welled up instantly, realising she was listening to a recording being played from her home. Birthday jokes: a CD Josie and Nick must have made for her.

But the rush of pleasant shock rose and fell as quick as a heartbeat on an electrocardiogram. She shouldn’t be hearing Josie’s voice like this. Not here, and not now. Josie should have brought the CD into her room in the morning, but she hadn’t been able to. Josie should have watched her unwrap it, but she was gone. They should have listened to it together, but the worst of God’s creations had snatched her little lady away.

Nick had to get away.

He should have loved hearing his daughter’s voice, but it didn’t work that way. All he felt was despair. If Josie never came back, her birthday stand-up act would be the last thing she ever committed to eternity, and Nick would never forget this moment, when he played it for his wife and foolishly still believed his daughter would return. But onscreen he could see Anna wiping her eyes, face creased with emotion, and he couldn’t bring himself to stop the CD. So he quietly slipped out of the room. As he exited, he glanced back and saw Middleton watching him.

He had planned to sit in Josie’s room, but stopped at the doorway. Jane was in there, making his bed. Unable to see what the cameras captured, and told by Anna not to talk to her in case of distraction, she had opted not to be present at the doorway. Nick didn’t want to talk to anyone just now so sat at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. Whiskey floated into his mind.

‘Nick.’

Middleton. Nick didn’t want to look up. Didn’t want a fight. He gave no response.

‘Thank you for that,’ Middleton said. ‘It will calm Anna. It was a nice touch.’

Now he looked up, but Middleton was gone.

But Jane was in the bedroom doorway. ‘That’s Josie’s voice. What is it? A recording.’