Carol hated making promises if she couldn’t keep them. ‘Hopefully, I can organise a visit so you can see your mum, but first I need to ask you some questions, is that OK?’

Georgie and Harry both nodded. Their grandad had now told them numerous times what they had to say and his words were firmly drummed into their little brains.

‘Do you mind if I speak to the children alone? It’s the usual procedure,’ Carol asked Eddie.

Larry had prewarned him that Carol would probably ask to speak to the kids alone, so Eddie nodded and he, Dominic, Joey and Joycie left the room.

‘I hope they remember everything you told them,’ Joyce whispered.

‘Of course they will. They ain’t silly kids, especially Georgie. Bright as a button, she is,’ Eddie said confidently.

Larry joined the quartet in the kitchen. ‘Did you have a chat with ’em, like I told you to, Ed?’

Eddie nodded. ‘So what happens next, you know, after she’s spoken to ’em?’

‘I briefed Carol about everything that has happened in the children’s lives on the way down here. Once she has finished speaking to them, she will inform the police that they are here, so it gets noted. I have a feeling that when the O’Haras realised they were missing, rather than involve the police, they have probably been searching for them themselves. You know what travellers are like, Ed, they hate the police and everything they stand for. If my theory is right and they haven’t contacted the authorities by the time we do, that will go very much in our favour to getting some kind of access. I should imagine the children will almost certainly be allowed to visit Frankie on a regular basis. She is their mother, after all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am in desperate need of a visit to the lavatory.’

‘Where’s Stanley, Joyce? Out the back with them birds of his?’ Eddie asked.

Joyce had barely given her husband a second thought for the past few hours. She wasn’t worried – she knew Stanley too well – and was positive he would be back home in the next couple of days with his tail between those knobbly knees of his.

‘Stanley’s stomped off in one of his tantrums, the silly old bastard. He found out that I’d met you in the Bull that time and threw all his toys out of his pram,’ Joyce replied.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, Joycie. How did he find out?’ Eddie asked.

‘No idea, he was too busy asking for a divorce to tell me that vital piece of information,’ Joyce said, laughing.

Dominic glanced at his watch. He had an early meeting in the morning with a potential billionaire investor. ‘Do you mind if I make a move, Joey? I’ve got that meeting early tomorrow morning with that American guy I told you about. I would stay here with you, but I’ve no change of clothes and Madonna will need to be fed and watered.’