I rang my mother first and broke the news to her in a slow, measured voice. She was so shocked that she couldn’t speak for several seconds.

‘He’s going to be all right, Mum,’ I said. ‘He was lucky.’

‘My God this is terrible,’ she said, her voice shaking. ‘I’ll come straight home.’

‘No you won’t, Mum. You’ll stay put. I don’t want to have to worry about you.’

She started to object but I became insistent and she finally agreed to stay with Sylvia. She made me promise to provide her with regular updates on Aidan.

‘And stay safe yourself, Laura. Please. You have the key to my house so move in there.’

I ended the call after telling her I had to get in touch with Aidan’s parents.

It was his father who answered the phone and I became tearful explaining what had happened.

‘I’ve seen plenty of shoulder wounds,’ he said. ‘If they stopped the bleeding and he’s already in surgery then he should be OK. I’m sure of it.’

I’d forgotten that Tom Bray was a former soldier who had served in various conflicts and been awarded medals for bravery. His words gave me a tiny crumb of comfort.

‘We’ll catch the first flight we can to the UK,’ he said after I gave him the hospital details. ‘But it might not be until tomorrow.’

As soon as I hung up the waiting room door opened and DCS Drummond appeared with two other men, neither of whom I recognised.

‘Thank God you’re OK, Laura,’ Drummond said and walked straight over to me. His face was ashen and the sinews in his neck were stretched tight.

I stood up and let him hug me, and this time there were no tears because I was all cried out and the fear and despair had turned to anger.

I pulled back from him and said, ‘It was a woman who shot Aidan. I’m sure of it. Please tell me the bitch is dead or in custody. I heard about the other shooting on the High Road.’

He shook his head and I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

‘You’re right about it being a woman, Laura,’ he said. ‘But I’m afraid she got away.’

An icy dread flowed through me and my breath started thumping in my ears.

‘Sit down,’ Drummond said. ‘I’ll tell you everything we know.’

He gestured towards the two men. ‘These are detectives Bannion and Flynn from Balham CID. They need you to describe what happened back at the house. They were briefed by the uniforms but they want to hear it from you.’

I sat down and closed my eyes, breathing deeply through my nostrils. When I opened them again I saw that the three men were seated and one of the detectives had his notebook out.