Mike was gaping at us all – Jodi, Bill, me, Jake, Cassie lurking near the house still, pale and frozen. I could hear Karen in the kitchen, the high keening sound of her crying.

Bill said, ‘I’ve called the police.’ He was so calm.

I stared at him. I felt for a moment like he’d done it to hurt me, somehow. How could we have the police here? We could sort this out, surely. ‘Why?’ was what I said. ‘No, Bill, this is just – this is ridiculous! It can’t be!’

‘I’m sorry, but she . . . she begged me to.’ He sounded awkward. I saw the way he wasn’t looking at Mike. I felt Bill’s arm round my shoulders. ‘Come on, Ali. We have to let the police sort this out. We just have to keep everyone where they are until the police come.’

The police were so quick, I’d hardly had time to get my head around what was happening. I paced on the decking, in and out of the kitchen door, bewildered and shaking. It couldn’t be true. She’d made a mistake. I’d tried to go to Karen, to help her or soothe or ask her what she meant, because she couldn’t mean what it sounded like, but she’d pushed me away, stumbled from my touch. Her hands were trembling and her face was so white, as if all the blood had rushed out of her. Jake was in the kitchen with her, and Jodi was looking after her, and she’d shooed me away with a brisk, ‘I think it’s best if you stay outside, Ali.’ In my own house! Mike was outside, still on the swing seat, head bowed, with Bill, who had also gently urged me away. Bill hadn’t sat down but was standing awkwardly over him. It wasn’t clear if he was guarding Mike or taking care of him. Callum, I guessed, was still passed out on the living room sofa. Cassie hovered on the decking, wrapped in her cardigan. I saw that her flip-flops had mulch on them, the kind of dirt and leaves you got in the woods just outside the back door. Where had she been? ‘What happened?’ she kept saying.

No one answered her. No one had the words. ‘Mum. What happened?’

‘Where were you?’ I turned on her. ‘Why were you outside?’

‘I . . . I couldn’t sleep. It was noisy. What’s wrong with Karen?’ It wasn’t so long ago that she’d called her Auntie Karen.