‘With me, obviously. I trained her from an early age how to undo window locks and slither through tiny spaces. The best little accomplice I could hope for.’ She laughed. ‘You should see your faces.’

‘Are you joking?’ Maxie said. ‘You are joking, aren’t you?’

‘Of course I am. I’m not that bad a mother. I did all my stealing while she was having her nap. For the first five years, you could set your clock by her. Asleep every day from eleven a.m. until two p.m. A bomb could go off and she’d sleep through it.’

‘Jeannie, stop messing around,’ Olivia said.

‘What if something had happened while she was home on her own?’ Maxie said.

She turned on them. Like a tropical storm, blue skies one moment, wild wind and rain the next. ‘Don’t you both fucking preach to me about what’s right or wrong. I did what I had to do, because it was just the two of us, and I never did anything that could bring harm to her. Ever.’

‘But what if she woke up and you weren’t there?’

‘It never happened. She never did.’

‘But you don’t know that.’

‘I do know. It never happened.’

‘But stealing, Jeannie. That’s wrong.’

‘No! Having more than you need when people around you are hungry or unable to sleep at night because they’re so worried about food or rent or buying clothes – that’s wrong. And nothing I stole was ever too valuable, or too personal. Half the time I don’t think they even noticed what was missing, they had so much. I was selective.’

‘But what if you were caught?’

‘I never was.’

‘But what if you had been, Jeannie? If you’d been sent to jail? What would have happened to Eliza?’

Jeannie laughed then. Too loudly. ‘You should see your faces. It’s as if I’ve told you I’m secretly Wonder Woman.’

‘Wonder Woman wasn’t a thief.’ Maxie said it before she could stop herself. She’d had more wine than usual. She tensed, waiting for Jeannie to flare up at her again.

Jeannie just laughed. ‘You’re right, Maxie, of course,’ she said. ‘Imagine that being phoned through to a country cop station. “I think someone robbed my house.” “Can you describe them, madam?” “Yes, she was wearing a low-cut red top, a short blue skirt covered in stars, and red, shiny thigh-high boots. Oh, and a gold amulet in her hair.”’ She took a sip of her wine. ‘Look, calm down, would you both? No one was hurt. I only took things that were small or easy to sell on. I kept a few things – that vase, for example. A few books now and then. You wouldn’t believe how much some people have. Cupboards full of toys their kids will never play with. Shelves and shelves full of books. Pantries full of food.’