Suddenly the old Piotr was back, was looking for an angle to the story, for someone to blame. But, she realised, she did believe FullLife – or at least, she believed James Quentin.

‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘I’m meeting him tomorrow, and you’re coming with me. He’ll go on the record.’

‘Does he have proof? Or is it just his word against theirs?’

‘I’m … I don’t think it’s quite like that. But he’s bringing evidence that they knew there was a risk. That they’ve known for years.’

They needed to search carefully, methodically, through her mum’s old notes. Avigail had known James when he was a student, he could have given her all sorts of information without thinking. She’d not wanted to do it before, not fully. She’d been putting it off, even though it was her most obvious source of information. It had felt too intimate, going through her mum’s desk. She didn’t know what else could be hidden. Would Piotr help, she wondered, without needing to criticise?

‘So there was a cover-up,’ he said.

‘They’ve been keeping things quiet, away from the public.’

‘And now a very public baby …’

‘They must be heartbroken,’ Eva said. She didn’t mean for it to come out sounding as cold as it did.

Piotr looked at her, his gaze penetrating.

‘That’s why we can’t bring them into this.’

‘What?’

‘I think we should keep Kaz and Rosie out of this. Let them grieve.’

‘But that’s …’

She looked at him in astonishment.

‘What?’ he said.

‘That’s the story.’

He shrugged. ‘Then we’ll tell a different story.’

They stared at each other for a moment, both only just realising that their voices had been raised. Then Piotr sat down again. Looked at his hands.

‘They’re just kids,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘It’s …’

‘It’s OK,’ she said. If Piotr had developed a professional conscience Eva didn’t want to be the one to break it. Besides, he was right. ‘We’ll focus on the cover-up. Hiding the risks from the public, misleading parents. Making them feel responsible. We won’t mention any names.’

Piotr nodded.

‘And we need to work out exactly how long this has been going on.’

He didn’t say anything for a while, and Eva wondered if she should put the kettle on for some tea, just to break the silence. Perhaps he’d changed more than she realised. She shook her head, not wanting to see him, however fleetingly, as a broken man. She had never wanted that.

‘What is it that you’re trying to achieve?’ he asked eventually. ‘Is this about bringing down FullLife? About stopping the pouch from being used altogether?’

Eva didn’t answer straight away. She hadn’t yet asked herself the question, and she didn’t know how to respond.