‘Well, let us know if you find out.’

I put the phone down and took a piece of liquorice. Jon? I remembered we’d had a conversation about sweets from our childhood on one of the evenings he’d been over. He’d told me that he loved Marathon bars, now called Snickers. I’d told him that I liked liquorice. But why wouldn’t he have signed it? The man had an ego, no doubt about that; I was sure if he sent a gift, he’d want to make sure the receiver knew where it came from.

Next I called Heather to ask if she’d sent the box. ‘No,’ she said, ‘and I’ve been thinking about something you should do. Go back to Simon for another session and see if you can find the mosaics you saw in your second session again. See if you can explore them and find that colour match between the one that represented the present and the one that represented the past.’

‘Already booked.’

‘So where are you up to on the soulmate search?’ she asked.

‘The numbers are going down. I have to see if there’s any reply from Bruno or Kate about her brother Sam, book my train to see Kevin and text Michael – oh, and drop a note to Jon.’

‘Jon? Is he on the list now? I thought you couldn’t stand the man.’

‘I can’t. It’s a note to ask him to park his car somewhere else in a couple of weeks’ time when the removal van comes. I want to make sure I give him plenty of notice.’

‘Right, OK, do that, then get on with contacting Michael. I saw the way you lit up when he came into the shop.’

‘But he hasn’t been in touch and he said he would be.’

‘You can’t rule him out just because of a fear of rejection.’

‘That’s what Marcia said too.’

‘She’s right. Text him. You have his number.’

‘And say what?’

‘Was great to see you. Are you coming back this way? Bea. One kiss,’ said Heather. ‘Short, simple, friendly.’

‘Will do, as soon as you hang up.’

‘What was Bruno like?’ Heather asked.

‘He appeared very sophisticated to me at the time; handsome too. He was dark and olive skinned, but don’t forget I haven’t seen him for over thirty years. I clicked on his Facebook page but couldn’t see any of his posts or photos either. I sent him a private message.’

‘What did you say?’

‘Am looking for a hero from World War Two. Is it you come back in a new body?’

‘Yeah sure,’ said Heather.

‘I wrote one of your lines about looking up people from the past.’

‘And what was Sam like?’

‘Intense, passionate about art and literature. I think he fancied himself as one of the romantic poets. He was also a stoner who loved his dope.’