Tania was white with fear and, as Noel dragged himself up from the floor, she looked from him to Jamsie. She saw that his eye was bleeding, and his mouth was swollen and bloody, and she knew instinctively that her father had done that to him, had hurt him like he had Noel.

He was kneeling in front of her now, her daddy, and she could see the sorrow in his eyes, could feel his panic.

‘Listen, princess, you’re too little to understand all this, darling. Noel and Jamsie know it’s for their own good. Come here, sweetheart, come to your daddy.’

He pulled her into his arms, and she let him, but she was clearly terrified. Daniel could feel the trembling of her little body, feel the pounding of her heart. As he stroked her back gently, she felt her stomach churning and, before she could stop herself, she brought up everything she had eaten that day. All the lovely sandwiches, fairy cakes, chicken drumsticks, and crisps vacated her body in one massive heave. She felt faint, as if she was unable to stand up by herself. Her head was filling with hot air, and she leaned into her daddy for protection.

Daniel held his daughter tightly, sorry to the core for what she had witnessed, angry that his sons had caused him to lose his temper like that, and nervous about how his wife would react when she heard about this particular scenario. He was unsure exactly how much his daughter had seen, and how much of what she had seen and heard she had actually understood.

Noel and Jamsie were both shamefaced and guilty about the trouble they had caused. They had not expected their father to react as he had – they had honestly believed he would pat them on the back and congratulate them on their industry. They had earned a small fortune in less than ten minutes. Surely that had to count for something? Neither of them had thought about the consequences if they had been caught; that possibility had never occurred to them.

Davey watched it in horror; Noel and Jamsie were a pair of idiots, that was obvious, but little Tania was not capable of understanding this.

Tania had vomited all over the floor, and down the back of her father’s jacket. He put her down gently and, slipping off his suit jacket, he placed it into the sink nearby. Then, picking his daughter up once more, he left the men’s toilet without another word.