‘Because I ain’t havin’ some nasty thievin’ little Jew livin’ under my roof. No doubt he’d do his best to charm his way into your bloomers,’ said Callum nastily, adding, ‘not that he’d have to try very hard if you’re anything like your mam.’

‘Dad!’ cried Suzie, blushing to her ears.

Roz stared at him aghast. She assumed he must be referring to Felix, which was ludicrous. Felix was a good, honest, kind young man who wouldn’t dream of taking advantage of any woman, but especially not one like Suzie. She immediately chided herself – it wasn’t Suzie’s fault she had been born into such a dreadful family. She had yet to meet the mother, but it sounded as though she was as bad as the rest of them. As this thought ran through her mind, she was gazing at the three mattresses. She whipped her head round to look at Suzie, surprised it hadn’t struck her before. ‘Where’s your mum?’

Suzie’s blush deepened, but Callum answered for her, and judging by the look on his face, Roz had touched a nerve.

He wrenched the door open. ‘I told you to get out and I meant it.’ Grasping her suitcase by the handle, he threw it out of the door.

Roz raced after her case, just managing to catch it by the handle before it plummeted over the steps to the ground below. As she stood at the top of the steps staring out over the River Mersey, it dawned on her that other than the Haggartys, she knew no one in Liverpool, and whilst going to the police and accusing them of lying was one thing, going to the police and admitting they’d thrown her out might put a completely different spin on the matter. She wasn’t local to the area, and for all she knew, the police might take the Haggartys’ side, and if that was the case she could end up in real trouble. Back in her home town, she had never had cause to speak to the police, but her father had always warned her that they weren’t to be trusted as he suspected most of them to be corrupt. She wondered now if that applied to all police or just the ones in Frankfurt. She had no desire to beg her way back into the hellhole that the Haggartys called home, but at this moment it seemed to be her only viable option. She was just wondering what to say, when Lilith Haggarty beat her to it, ordering Roz back inside.

Roz walked through the door, clutching her suitcase in her hands.