‘That’s not what your husband said.’

‘When?’

Rebecca closed the kitchen door and the sound of cartoons died. ‘This was years ago, it’s in the past.’

Dorothy touched her temple. ‘With all due respect, it’s not. The money is still coming out of our account.’

‘I told you it’s my life assurance, for Simon.’

‘That doesn’t make sense,’ Dorothy said. ‘Even if we did run a scheme, the money wouldn’t come directly from us, it would come from the insurer.’

‘That’s not what Mr Skelf told me when he came to explain it.’

Dorothy looked around as if Jim’s ghost might jump out of a cupboard. ‘He came here?’

Rebecca nodded. ‘In his suit, with a briefcase. Got me to sign some documents.’

‘What documents?’

Rebecca folded her arms. ‘I don’t remember, legal stuff, it was a decade ago.’

‘Do you have a copy of these documents?’

‘Somewhere, yes.’

‘Can I see them?’

‘No.’

‘I didn’t find any documentation about this amongst our paperwork.’

Rebecca raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s your problem.’54

Dorothy rubbed at the bridge of her nose. ‘Maybe you could tell me what happened to your husband.’

‘Maybe you could mind your own business.’

‘I just want to understand,’ Dorothy said. ‘You say he’s dead but that’s not strictly true, is it?’

‘Have you been checking up on me?’

‘Please.’

Rebecca walked to the kettle as if to put it on, but only touched its metal side. ‘He’s dead to me.’

‘He went missing.’

Rebecca leaned against the worktop, this time as if she needed support. ‘I don’t know why you’re digging this up. He left for work one day and never came back. I phoned Skelf’s in the evening and spoke to your husband, who said Simon never turned up that day. There were no clothes missing, no bags, he didn’t take anything with him. He never accessed our bank account. Just gone.’

‘What did the police say?’

Rebecca laughed, a bitter sound. ‘There’s no law against going missing, thousands do it every year. The implication was that he’d had enough of me.’

‘And your daughter.’

That brought a hard stare. ‘I was pregnant with her when it happened.’

‘Did you try to find him?’

‘How?’

‘Hire a private investigator.’

‘I didn’t have any money.’

‘Did you know Jim was a private investigator as well as a funeral director?’

Rebecca looked at her like she was mad. ‘No.’