‘Don’t be disappointed,’ said Simon as I put on my coat and got ready to leave. ‘Maybe what came up previously has served its purpose. You have to trust that and, if there is anything else to be revealed, your subconscious mind will find a way.’

Marcia said much the same when I called her later. ‘The sessions proved without a shadow of a doubt that Grace and Billy were real because they led to Eileen and the confirmation that Minty also was real, and that was what convinced you that Saranya Ji spoke the truth. So, as Simon said, purpose fulfilled, there’s no need to go there again. So what next?’

‘Well, it’s not going well, is it?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Seeking out men from the past. So far it’s got me nowhere. Andrew – monk who’s taken a vow of silence; Jed – gay; Sam – addict and prisoner; Bruno – just not my type; Michael – unreliable; Kevin – peculiar-smelling snake man.’

Marcia started laughing. ‘Maybe it’s best not to look back sometimes, but don’t rule out Michael. You don’t know why he hasn’t been in touch. He could have lost his mobile – people do – or, as I keep saying, it may be that you still have to meet this man, so hang on in there. Who knows what we might still find, who you’ve yet to encounter and, in the meantime, we’re narrowing down the search.’

‘But we don’t know who sent the flowers or the Chinese box or the Jo Malone.’

‘We don’t, but whoever it is will reveal themselves, so relax. You don’t go to all that effort to remain anonymous.’

*

When I got home, I passed some time looking at Jed’s paintings on his website. I still had it in mind to contact him and resume our friendship. I flicked on the TV and soon fell asleep. I had the most vivid dream. I was in an art gallery, similar to the one where Jed’s canvases were on display but, as I looked more closely, they weren’t his paintings on the wall, they were my mosaics. As I’d seen under hypnosis, there was the one depicting my present life, a massive piece filling almost the whole wall. As I studied it, I noticed once again that different people seemed to exude different colours. I looked for Graham and noted he was in browns and shades of maroon, Marcia in the colours of autumn leaves, yellow, rust, oranges, bright and glowing; Heather shimmered in greens, Joe in reds.