‘Not recently. Have you checked their rooms?’

‘Yes,’ she said, her voice tight with tension. ‘Of course.’

‘I’m sure they’ll be around somewhere close by. It’s not even nine yet, is it?’

‘It’s gone half past nine! When did you last see them?’

‘An hour and a half ago?’ he said, crunching into another tortilla chip. ‘They were both on their phones for a bit after water polo, then they took themselves off somewhere.’

Jennifer put her hands on her hips. ‘You might at least pretend to be concerned about your sons.’

‘Is there a reason to be concerned?’

‘Jesus, you’re impossible sometimes!’

I stood up. ‘Jennifer, do you want me to help you look for the boys?’

‘No,’ she said, a little too quickly. ‘No, it’s fine, Izzy’s helping me look for them.’

‘Is everything all right?’

‘I don’t know, Kate. They seemed a bit wired earlier after you guys played water polo. If you see them, tell them to stay here until I get back, would you?’

A voice cut across us, coming from the vineyard gate.

‘Guys? Can I get a little help, please?’

All eyes turned towards the sound. A couple had appeared at the edge of the garden, arm in arm, but deep in shadow. One much taller than the other, making painfully slow progress up the hill towards us.

Jennifer moved first, stumbling towards them.

‘Jake?’ she said, her voice rising. ‘Jake, is that you?’

The couple stepped into a pool of light at the edge of the garden. Izzy, her arm slung awkwardly around Jake’s skinny waist. A third figure – Ethan, I realised – trailed after them before lying down flat in the grass.

Jennifer broke into a run, with me close behind.

‘Jake?’ she shouted. ‘Oh my God, Jakey, are you all right?’

He groaned in reply, his head lolling from side to side. Jennifer and I reached him and took an arm each, as Izzy disentangled herself.

‘They were down in the gorge,’ she said.

‘Jakey?’ Jennifer said again. ‘Talk to me. Are you ill?’

Jake groaned again, put his hands on his knees and vomited noisily into the grass at his feet.

He was in a bad way. There was a dark, wet stain down the front of his T-shirt, the stench of spilled wine and fresh vomit surrounding him like an overpowering cologne. Jennifer and I led him to a lounger where he sat heavily and retched again, long strings of saliva hanging from his lips. Alistair wandered over, surveying his eldest son with a rueful smile.

‘Oh dear,’ he said. ‘Bit of overindulgence, Jake? Still, a useful lesson learned for you and your brother, eh? I’ll get some water from the kitchen.’

He headed off back towards the villa.

Jennifer knelt down, putting her hands on Jake’s knees. ‘Talk to me, honey, what happened? Are you hurt? Did you fall down, did you bang your head?’