I stayed with Grace for half an hour or so until her spirits had appeared to lift. When it felt appropriate, I gently mentioned that she had the right as a grandparent to apply for visitation rights to Lizzie if she wanted to. She seemed surprised but declined to pursue the conversation. When I left her flat, she gave me a hug.

‘Maybe it’s no bad thing to talk about it. I feel a lot better for a chat and a cry. Thank you,’ she said.

‘Anytime,’ I replied.

25

Back in my own flat I went into the bedroom and noticed that Emily’s backpack and messenger bag had both gone. I could only think of two possibilities. Either she had done a runner, or she had left with McCoy. If she had left with McCoy then she was either still working for him or she had left with him under duress. I decided to visit the offices of Cityside Investigations and to take the dongle with me.

I made my way to the play area and sat on the plinth of the dismantled see-saw. As I poked around in the muddy crack to retrieve the dongle, it was hard not to imagine how Grace must have felt on that terrible day. It crossed my mind that maybe the accident was the reason that people on the estate seemed to shun Grace. Though it was probably more likely that she shunned other people on account of her guilt and shame. She had reached out to me after I arrived on the estate, though, and that made me feel both special and very lucky at the same time.

Out of the blue, my squirrel mate appeared beside me. His tail looked limp and greasy and his eyes lacked their usual brightness.

‘What’s going on with you? You look well shabby. Have you been in a fight?’

‘As a matter of fact, I have. A bloke was bothering my girlfriend so I tore into him, made him think around his behaviour and warned him off.’

‘Oh, so she’s your girlfriend now, is she? Does she know you’re calling her that out in public or are you just hoping it’s the case?’

‘Well, put it this way, me and her have decided to have kids together, so if you think around that you would have to say it was pretty serious, wouldn’t you?’

‘Fair enough. Are you injured anywhere? You look a bit sullied.’

‘I’ve got a bit of a sore head, but I’ve chewed on some willow bark. It works like aspirin – I’ll be right as rain when it kicks in. So, why are you digging that dongle up? What’s your plan?’

‘I’m going to hand the dongle over to the people that want it and be rid of the whole business.’

‘And where does that girl fit into this calculation? Because I know you will have thought around that.’