The bathroom recess was spotless, too, with the grouting between the tiles scrubbed, and the shower mat hanging bone dry on the rail. There was no cleaning left to do there, but in the far section a pile of Angie’s clothes lay on the bed. It looked as though someone had begun to straighten out the wardrobe and hadn’t had time to finish. Well, that was one other thing he could do for her—re-hang all her clothes neatly in the wardrobe.

He worked deftly and methodically, taking wire hangers from a bundle on the floor, and became so engrossed in creating order from chaos that he didn’t hear someone walking into the back yard and opening the door. Sunlight flooded in across the freshly washed linoleum and he looked up, startled, to find Lynne staring at him.

‘How did you get in here?’ she demanded aggressively. ‘Why’s the door unlocked?’

‘The spare key…Angie keeps one under the flowerpot in the garden. I’m not doing anything, just hanging all this lot up for her…tidying up…’ His voice trailed away in embarrassment, he felt incredibly foolish standing there clutching an armful of gauze flounces. It was some outfit of Angie’s he’d never seen her wear, some kind of glittering party dress, though knowing Angie, he guessed she would have worn it any time of the day she felt like it. He quickly put the frivolous dress on the hanger inside the wardrobe and stood shuffling his feet. Lynne’s expression made him feel as though he were an intruder, prying into someone else’s possessions when he had no right to.

‘Well, you’ve been wasting your time,’ Lynne said. ‘They’ve got to be packed away. We slaved all yesterday afternoon to get this place cleaned and we’re just finishing off now. Mum dropped me off because she’s got some urgent shopping to do, but she’ll be back in an hour and I can’t work and chat at the same time. I’m sorry, but you’d better go now, okay? Oh God, where do I start? All these awful clothes…Didn’t you hear me, Seymour? Go on, run along back to your place! You shouldn’t even be here. Does Angie know you just pop in and out when she’s not home?’

‘Of course I don’t!’ Seymour said furiously. ‘I only came over to tidy things up for when she gets back. I was going to put milk and stuff in the fridge. You said she only ever stays a couple of days in…’