Dugdale cleared his throat. ‘We have a little confession to make. When I discovered Frederick lived not that far from Lex, I saw an opportunity. We need a safe exchange point. Frederick is likely to be under surveillance from Tenebris. So I encouraged him to switch his daughter to the same nursery as yours, Lex.’

Frederick looked at me. ‘Sorry. I was about to introduce myself properly to you last night but you . . .’ he smiled, ‘well, you made a very fast exit.’

Dugdale looked between us. ‘Due to Tenebris’s sophisticated online capabilities we cannot risk any online correspondence. Everything has to be done in person, or at a push by coded text message. Due to this nursery link you can have legitimate daily meetings on the school run.’

It was a clever move from Duggers. And at least with it just being information exchanges there should be no undue risk to Gigi or Florence. Frederick and I could be seen together without it leading to a flurry of suspicions from whoever had him under surveillance. Thankfully I’d had nearly two and a half years now to practise my ‘harmless mum’ cover story.

‘You were lucky to get a place at Yvonne’s. It’s meant to be the best nursery school in the area.’

Frederick frowned. ‘Actually, the place I had her down for, Little Lambs, is the best.’

‘Really? You didn’t think behind the perky schoolma’am façade Miss Sophie was one art attack away from a full-blown mental breakdown?’

Frederick shook his head. ‘Her medical records flagged nothing troubling.’

‘That’s because she’s held it together so far – but no one that enthusiastic about the alphabet is on the right side of normal.’ I remembered her manic grin as she enunciated each letter with unbridled joy. ‘What did you think of the other schools?’

‘Well, I ruled out the Forest School because if I wanted her to be outside all day playing with mud I’d just stick her in the garden.’

‘What about Miss Mary’s?’ I asked.

‘Miss Mary was a bitch—’

‘Who didn’t believe in playtime,’ I finished for him.

‘Bright Bambinos?’ he asked.

‘One of the teachers didn’t pass the security checks.’

‘Are you talking about the one with the drug-dealing boyfriend?’

‘No, the one using a fake name with an arrest warrant outstanding for fraud. What about Snowdrops?’

Frederick laughed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Ofsted rated it Poor. Pretty sure they use the kids to garden to save on bills. It’s a kiddie sweatshop.’

‘So why did you choose Yvonne’s Young Ones then?’

‘It’s Montessori.’ He shrugged. ‘I still don’t understand what that means.’

‘Yeah . . . well, me neither. But it’s meant to be good.’

‘It’d better be for the amount I’m paying for Florence to finger-paint.’