‘So do you have any idea of who would have wanted to take him?’ he persisted.

Nancy looked up to the heavens. Years ago, before Sid had joined up, he’d run with a pretty rough crowd, and had even had the local gangland boss Harry Calendar’s sister as his fancy piece. But that was all water under the bridge. None of his old mates had bothered calling by to see if there had been any news about him since he’d been taken prisoner after Dunkirk. They probably didn’t even know of Georgie’s existence.

‘No, I can’t think of anyone.’ She accepted the tea from Violet and sipped it, but it made her feel sicker than ever.

‘Well, it looks as if he was frightened by this burglar who attacked your sister. We’ll enquire at every house to see if they know anything,’ the policeman said reassuringly, but Nancy’s mind was not put at rest by this. Everyone on Empire Street knew what was going on in everyone else’s houses. There wasn’t much of a chance Georgie could be anywhere nearby.

She bent forward, hunching her shoulders, her head in her hands. Georgie, her little boy. She knew she’d been selfish and taken advantage of her family’s willingness to look after him whenever she fancied going out, which was often. She hadn’t been the best mother to him, in all honesty, but he was the centre of her world. Without him her life had no purpose. The hurt and humiliation of the last twelve hours had been stripped away, leaving one clear fact: Georgie mattered more than anything. She had to get him back.

The policeman was still talking to her, she realised, and she looked up at him with a tear-stained face. ‘Try not to worry, Mrs Kerrigan,’ he said as he moved to leave.

Nancy watched him go with no faith that he would find her child. He gave her the impression he thought Georgie had run away and was hiding somewhere close, but she knew he’d been looking forward to staying with Tommy for ages, and wouldn’t have left voluntarily in a month of Sundays. Even if he had been scared he would have gone to Tommy for comfort, or to Dolly and Pop’s house.

Violet came and sat beside her, passing her a hanky. ‘Here, take this.’

Nancy nodded gratefully and wiped her face. ‘Thank you.’ She sat up straight again. ‘What really happened, Violet? How can my boy have run off?’

Violet shook her head. ‘I don’t believe he did. He wouldn’t leave us, even if he was scared by a burglar.’

‘Where’s Sarah now?’ Nancy wondered, realising she hadn’t seen her younger sister that morning in all the chaos.