‘So you did receive it?’

‘Receive what?’

‘The box of money.’

And here I am at the point where the rubber hits the road. Suddenly it all makes sense. Dave Martin is my ticket to safety. Take it, I say to myself. Take it.

‘Sorry, I didn’t catch that.’

But guess what? I don’t. Despite all the pain I have caused Mick, and Elaine, I’m not quite ready to stop playing. It’s something I hadn’t comprehended. I had been lying to myself about taking the box back to the mailbox. I want to see this to the end. I want to solve the mystery. I want the money — all of it. And somehow, I’m desperate for the distraction. That box is the first thing to get me out of my head, and off the place, since Sarah left the farm, and almost since things went bad. I want this.

‘I’m really sorry, Dave, but I haven’t received money of any sort.’

‘That’s funny, because the mailman said he’d been delivering boxes just like the ones I’m missing.’

I need to talk to my mailman.

‘I have received a couple of boxes, but they contained cheap machines … a drill, a pump. No money.’

‘Well, that’s weird, because last week I got a submersible pump that I didn’t order. Are you sure you haven’t missed a box somewhere?’

‘I’m sure. Sorry I couldn’t help. Bye.’

I put the phone down. Is he the guy that robbed Mick and assaulted Elaine? Is he Elaine’s boyfriend? Or am I just losing my grip? What are the odds of there being a bloke with the same name and nearly the same address in the same district? It’s a trick of some sort. As per usual, I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what the trick is.

I leave the phone off the hook. All it does is bring misery.