The pressure on Mary’s back forces her to release her grip on Amanda’s ponytail so that she can reach behind her and support herself. As she does so her hand comes into contact with an object on the workshelf.

She knows straight away that it’s a hammer and her fingers close around the grip.

By now she can barely breathe as Amanda’s fingers dig into her throat. The woman is ranting about calling the police and Mary believes she therefore has no choice but to protect herself and her baby.

She manages to place her left hand on her attacker’s chest and gives an almighty push.

As the gap opens up between them, Mary brings the hammer around from behind her back and lashes out with it.

One strike to the side of the head is all it takes to force Amanda to let go of her throat. As she stumbles backwards, Mary hits out again and this time the face of the hammer smashes into Amanda’s forehead.

The woman collapses onto the floor where the blood starts to pool around her head. Her eyes stare at the ceiling and her features are frozen.

It takes a few moments for Mary to realise that Amanda is dead. And that she’s the one who killed her. She feels dizzy and nauseous and her head is filled with the sound of a baby crying.

But at least that means her daughter is safe. And alive.

‘Looks like your lovely wife is paying us a visit,’ Simon observes as he and Robert arrive back from the shoot and see Mary’s car in the yard.

‘She probably stopped off on her way home from the village,’ Robert replies.

‘Well, it’ll be nice to see her and Charlotte.’

When they step out of the Land Rover, Simon heads for the front door while Robert makes his way towards the cellar. He’s carrying his boss’s shotgun in one hand and two dead pheasants on a strap in the other. He’ll hang the birds up and lock the gun away before going upstairs. All part of the Friday routine.

The cellar door is open, which makes him think that Amanda is down there. It’s where she keeps her plants and vegetables and she likes to give them a daily dose of fresh air.

But the first person he sees isn’t Amanda. It’s Mary. She’s crouched in a ball on the floor clutching a baby to her chest. Robert is about to ask her what’s wrong when he catches sight of the body on the floor. It causes his breath to stall and his heart to trip.

But his brain is slow to respond and a couple of seconds pass before he takes in the blood and realises that he’s looking at Amanda.

He drops the pheasants but not the shotgun.