I went to Jimmy’s home today in Deptford for old times’ sake and … well, I don’t really know why, but I guess I was hoping to see his mother, to pass on my condolences to her and maybe tell her about Lara, her granddaughter, for I feel certain she would be overjoyed by the news of her. It would have been so nice to talk about Jimmy and to feel close to him again. But I was met with the most dreadful sight. Rubble piled up high where Jimmy’s home once stood. The whole of Franklin Street has disappeared. A man was there, rooting through the debris, trying to salvage whatever he could, and he told me the street took a direct hit. Poor Maureen at number 27 didn’t stand a chance as she never made it to the shelter in time after doubling back to fetch her tabby cat, Mischief. It was such a sorry sight and I came away with tears in my eyes but took comfort in knowing that Jimmy will have his mother, Maureen, with him now. I then went over to the hilly field section of Greenwich Park and picked a big bunch of wild flowers, just like Jimmy did for me when we were courting. After tying a jolly yellow ribbon from the haberdashery shop around them, I went back to where Jimmy had lived and left the flowers there, saying a silent prayer as I placed them in the rubble. A flash of bright colour in amongst all the grey, from Lara and me, for the father and grandmother that she will never meet.

‘Oh, you know what I mean,’ Betty said, bringing Grace’s thoughts back to the present day, ‘it’s like the bit where they try to work out how everything happened … anyway, our Grace is going to have a terrific time in Italy being our very own Miss Marple. And that’s the main thing.’

‘Let’s not get carried away, dear. Grace isn’t going to investigate a murder!’ Larry shook his head with a worried look on his face and then, after pondering momentarily, he looked at Grace and added, ‘Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I won’t live with myself if anything happens to you out there, my dear.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Jamie said keenly. ‘Grace will have the time of her life and come back feeling all refreshed and wonderful, and with a glorious tan to boot. Plus she’ll have Ellis with her, so it’s not as if she’ll actually be properly on her own …’

They all looked at Grace as if waiting for her to sanction the trip. She took a deep breath and after breaking into a big grin, she gave her verdict.