I gave George, 22 months, a fruit ice lolly. He eyed it dubiously at first but then decided it was all right to lick – when he bit off a chunk, it made him cry. As a health and safety measure, he was safely ensconced in his high chair during the deployment of the lolly.

Leaving the room for a minute, I returned to find someone had scribbled on the wall with what looked remarkably like the raspberry end of a fruit ice lolly.

“George, did you do that?”

He gave me a beatific smile and vigorously shook his head. To be honest, his clear denial did not allay my suspicion. There were only the two of us in the house and I knew I hadn’t done it.

“So, who was it who drew on the wall, then, George?”

He shrugged his little shoulders and turned his hands palms upward as if to say: “Beats me.”

This does not bode well for our chances of finding the culprit in the event of the mysterious felling of a cherry tree in the garden.