‘The O’Haras have left Rainham, Frankie, and have taken Georgie and Harry with them. I’ve been to the police station this morning and insisted they put a warrant out for their arrest, as they have broken the custodial agreement,’ Larry explained.

‘Whaddya mean, left Rainham? Where have they gone, then?’ Frankie asked dumbly.

‘We don’t know, sweetheart, but we’ll find ’em and get the kids back, I promise you that,’ Eddie assured her.

Frankie couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. There had to be some mistake. Why would Jed run off with the kids when he’d already been given custody of them? ‘It doesn’t make sense to me. How do you know the O’Haras haven’t taken Georgie and Harry on holiday or something? Jed wouldn’t do a runner with them, he’s too clever for that. Who told you they were actually missing?’

Eddie nudged Larry again to prompt him to tell Frankie the rest of the story. ‘It was Julie, Sammy’s girlfriend, who reported their disappearance. She’d been unable to contact Sammy, so she called the police. There was some kind of incident at the house, apparently, but the police don’t know exactly what happened yet. Their theory is that the O’Haras left quickly because of this particular incident.’

Frankie had been reasonably calm, but the word ‘incident’ filled her not just with dread but also with anger. ‘Spit it out, then. What really fucking happened? I ain’t a child any more, you know,’ she shouted.

‘The police believe that somebody was shot in Jimmy’s horse-box. They found a bullet and blood by all accounts,’ Larry said bluntly.

‘What if it was one of my babies? Say it was Georgie or Harry that got shot!’ Frankie screamed.

Eddie jumped out of his seat, crouched down and held his daughter’s shaking body in his arms. He had to put her mind at rest. She looked ill and he couldn’t leave her in this state. ‘It definitely ain’t one of the kids, babe. The Old Bill told Larry that, didn’t they, Lal?’

‘Yes, they seemed sure it was one of the adults,’ Larry assured Frankie.

‘But how do they know that? The same might have happened to Georgie or Harry what happened to Luke,’ Frankie sobbed.

Eddie gripped his daughter’s slouched shoulders. ‘Listen, it ain’t the kids, it’s either Jed or Jimmy, OK? And you mustn’t tell anyone we’ve told you that, because Lal got that piece of information on the sly and you’ll get him into trouble, all right?’

Frankie stopped crying and stared her father in the eye. She was suddenly sure he knew more than he was letting on. She turned to Larry. ‘Can I speak to my father alone for a minute, please?’ she asked coldly.