‘I’ve been in a B&B in Musselburgh since last week. I’m going to make sure that wherever I end up, he won’t be able to find me. There are other ways of making a statement.’

‘There are?’

‘After we had the “Big Conversation”,’ Tess brackets the words with speech marks in the air, ‘I got the electric drill out of the garage, and I drilled a hole in his stupid phone and skewered it to that huge designer coffee table he is so proud of.’

Fiona’s eyes widen. ‘Well, that’s . . . different.’

‘Once I got the idea into my head it wouldn’t go away, so I just did it.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Nothing you need to know about.’

‘Oh?’

‘Well, I was going to superglue the front door lock, but in the end I decided I’d done enough damage.’ Tess pushes on. ‘But I need somewhere to live and the landlord will have to be OK with a dog. And I’ve only got two days. I thought the B&B would be alright for a bit longer but they have other guests arriving on Tuesday.’

Fiona tops up Tess’s glass for a third time. ‘Let’s finish eating, and then I have some questions.’

Chapter 52

February 2011

After the pizza boxes have been carefully positioned on top of the overflowing recycling bin, Fiona gets out a pad of paper and a pen.

‘This is legal stuff, OK? I need to know how long you were together.’

‘Just over eight years. I thought he was The One, you know?’

Fiona nods, but she has slipped into work mode. ‘And who owns the house? Does it belong to both of you?’

‘No, it’s his. He bought it ages ago and then rented it out while he was away. I just assumed that when we got married . . . we were engaged too, did I mention that?’

Fiona shakes her head.

‘You probably wouldn’t have seen my ring. I didn’t wear it when I was working in case it got damaged. What a joke.’ Tess rubs the empty channel on her finger. ‘We only moved back from Portugal in October. Our first Christmas in Scotland. Our first Hogmanay. I just don’t understand it.’ She tries to sniff away the tears which are starting to roll down her cheeks. ‘I mean, we were happy. There was absolutely no indication that anything was wrong. Except he wasn’t bloody happy, was he? And he lied over and over again, and let me believe everything was alright.’

Fiona pushes a box of tissues across the table. ‘I know this is really hard, but I’m just going to keep going, OK?’

Tess nods.

‘Next question. Joint property? A car? Anything in the house?’

‘It’s all his.’ Tess looks at Fiona, suddenly alarmed. ‘Unless you count Baxter?’

‘I think Baxter is safe with you. Any joint debt? Loans?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Good. That makes it simpler, legally.’