Once we had Monty back on the lead, we headed for the far end of the park so we could walk through the streets back to the car. As we left the gate and found the alleyway up to Southern Road, I realized that we would be near where Grace Harris was supposed to have lived.

‘Can we take a short detour?’ I asked when we reached the main road. ‘Just down here. I want to look at a property.’

‘Sure. Why? Are you thinking of buying round here?’

‘Oh no, nothing like that. Now OK, this is going to sound crazy …’ I filled him in on what Saranya Ji had told me about Grace and Billy, then the research I’d done to find them, which had resulted in coming across the whole Harris family at the address nearby.

‘Are you telling me you believed this woman?’ Stuart asked.

‘Oh god no, not that I was Grace, but Saranya Ji got their names and situations from somewhere and, having looked into it a little, I have to admit their story captured my imagination. They’ve become more real to me and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of working out where they might have lived, and so on.’

‘A wartime romance, but it sounds like it ended so sadly if Billy didn’t come back.’

‘I know. That’s what struck me. Forgotten people and yet they had their story, like so many.’

‘And do you have an inkling who this soulmate might be? Your Michael chap?’

‘No. Why? Do you believe in reincarnation?’

Stuart shrugged. ‘Why not? My belief is that we know so little about the big issues. I don’t discount the idea of rebirth, nor do I believe. I’m somewhere in the middle and will happily admit, I just don’t know.’

‘Me too.’

‘Though I have to say when my kids, Fi and Jack, were little, Janet and I always said that Fi was an old soul. From an early age, there was a wisdom in her eyes as she took everything in, whereas Jack, first time on the planet without a clue what was going on. He hasn’t changed much.’ He laughed. ‘So why are we going to look at this house? Are you sure you’re not more taken in than you’re letting on and want to see if anything resonates?’

‘No, no, of course not,’ I lied as we reached Northern Road. I did want to see if it seemed familiar. ‘I’ve driven this way a million times. I think if I was going to feel something, I would have done so by now. Curiosity, that’s all, honest.’

‘What number is it?’ asked Stuart.

‘176.’

We continued walking along the street. Number 176 was a semi-detached Edwardian house on the left with a small front garden.