I’ve already called Heidi to let her know I’m ill with a migraine and that I can’t make the school fayre. I’ve assured her that Matt will be along to help out. Heidi was sympathetic, but I could hear the stress in her voice, and I feel terrible for letting her down. My friend Lou-Anne has said she’ll look after Jess and Charlie with her kids until Matt gets to school. So that means I’ve got over three hours until the fayre ends and everyone starts making their way home. Hopefully, this ‘errand’ will only take me half an hour at most.

I get out of the car and find that my legs are soft and shaky. I hope, now that I’ve gone to all this trouble, that I’m strong enough to actually go through with it. The air is damp and cold, but at least the rain is holding off for now. The smell of salt and vinegar wafts across the road from a nearby fish and chip shop, mingling with diesel fumes and wet tarmac. I lock the car and start walking, my eyes darting everywhere, checking there are no familiar faces. The last thing I need is for someone I know to spot me in this area – I have no cover story, and my mind is so frazzled right now that I can’t even think of anything remotely plausible to explain why I’m here. So I keep my head down and hope that my hood and the fast-falling darkness will shield me.

I reach the Morrises’ street quickly and do a quick scan of the area. The only people I can see are a woman going into her house at the other end of the road, and a couple of teenage girls, their faces caked in severe make-up, walking towards me, but paying me no attention. They’re laughing and looking down at their phones. I pass them without any eye contact.

I was banking on most people not being home from work yet and luckily it seems I was right. There are very few cars parked, and most of the houses are in darkness. The houses and flats that do have their lights on have their curtains drawn and their blinds pulled down. Everyone is either out or already hunkered down for the evening.

A dog barks as I walk past one of the houses, making me jump. It sets off a chain of other dogs barking around the neighbourhood. Someone yells at their pet to shut up. I hope there aren’t any dogs in Bella’s building. I don’t remember any barking last time I was here, but I obviously don’t want any undue attention drawn to me.