‘Oh stop. You’re terrible.’ Gillian laughed and unpacked her lunch onto the table. ‘Alexis, did Will tell you about the carbon monoxide alarm? The other day I woke up in the middle of the night panicking that you didn’t have one here. I could only go back to sleep once I texted him telling him how important it was. He said you had one but do you know you need to keep checking the batteries?’

A text. In the middle of the night.

Of course it would be from Gillian. A woman who worried so much about the hidden everyday dangers in the home she wouldn’t drink tap water as she’d read it had oestrogen in and she didn’t want it upsetting her carefully regulated hormone levels.

‘It’s OK, Gillian, it beeps when it needs new ones.’

‘What a relief.’

‘I’m just heading out.’ Jake nodded at us both and left.

‘Bye, Uncky Jake.’

I listened to Gillian’s chatter about the broken-down car and the nice man at the AA and how he taught her a clever trick about the oil gauge and how you can always tell the ones who respect their elders.

My phone beeped, confirming my commando friend would arrive for Gillian and Gigi protection within the hour. I wasn’t going anywhere until he was here.

‘I’ll be off soon, Gillian. I have a bit of time to kill before my next meeting.’

‘Not to worry, love, you do what you need to.’

Gigi finished her sandwich and insisted Ganma sit with her on the sofa and read her the same three books she’d got me to read her at breakfast.

I made myself a sandwich and ate, listening to Gillian reading. ‘. . . and then Little Red Riding Hood said, “Grandma, what big eyes you have . . .” ’

Life was so simple in the fairy tales. We knew who the baddies were and good always won over evil. Unless you thought like Yvonne. She’d probably say the maligning of the Big Bad Wolf was transgender prejudice.

I went upstairs to my bathroom. I removed a panel from the cupboard under the sink. A lockbox was inside. I entered Gigi’s birthday and it opened. I took out my gun and a set of bullets and loaded it. This lockbox was always here just in case I ever had to go straight from home and out to an op.

I went back into the bedroom and took my modified black Marc Jacobs bag out of my wardrobe. I put the gun inside the false bottom and closed it. I slung the bag’s heavy gold chain over my shoulder and headed downstairs. I was on the landing when the doorbell rang. I tensed and reached inside my bag.

‘It’s me,’ Jake’s voice came through the letterbox.

Why was he back here already? I went and opened the door.