‘I do.’ Oh please, please don’t let it be him who sent them to me on Valentine’s Day, I thought. It couldn’t be, surely. He doesn’t have my address. Or does he? I remembered the box the sweets had come in; it had been covered in golden snakes. Oh noooooo. He hadn’t mentioned the box. Surely he would have made a reference to the gift if he’d sent it?

‘So tell me all about you,’ Kevin said. ‘You’re doing a book about Manchester back in the day? I suppose you’ve found all sorts of people doing extraordinary things, though I bet none as interesting as me.’

‘You’re right there.’

‘Want to take some photos?’

‘Good idea,’ I said. I thought he meant of him, but he led me back into the snake room, where I dutifully took pictures of the snakes on my phone and one of Kevin with Slinky wrapped around his neck.

‘Want a photo of him round your neck?’ Kevin asked.

‘I think I’m going to have to decline that very kind offer, and I really have to get back now before the rush hour hits London,’ I said as I backed towards the door.

‘Completely understand,’ said Kevin. ‘The snakes aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. No worries. I’ll drop you back at the station.’

He drove me back and luckily there was a train five minutes later. I got on, sank back into the seat and texted Marcia and Heather. Eliminate Kevin Grisham. Not an axe murderer but pretty weird. Has snakes. Smells strange. Not the one for me.

A moment later, a text came back. Not from Marcia or Heather. It was from Kevin.

So great to see you, Bea. Hope we can make it a regular event now that we’re back in touch. I’d love to see more of you and look forward to catching up where we left off so many moons ago. Come and stay next time. Kisses from your big snake Kevin x

Oh God, I thought. He’d even put a snake emoji after the kiss.

40

‘And down down, deep down,’ Simon said as I sat once more in his reclining chair. As in the previous sessions, I soon found myself drifting, relaxing.

‘Don’t try and force it,’ Simon had advised, but I couldn’t stop myself, I kept thinking mosaics, I need to see the mosaics, but they didn’t come, nothing came, nor any sense of going back to the time of Billy and Grace, nothing. In fact, I think I fell asleep, because the next thing I was aware of was Simon’s voice and waking up in his office.