‘Will she be able to tell us how soon we can make the funeral arrangements? We need to get all that settled.’ Rachel took a box of sweeteners from her handbag and dropped one into her tea. She sat back in the chair, her legs tight together at knees and ankles.

‘When someone dies like this, you can’t have the funeral right away,’ Elinor said, trying to find a sensitive way to explain the situation.

‘Why not?’

‘It’s a question of evidence,’ she said. ‘After someone’s arrested, they’ve got the right to have their defence team examine the body.’

‘But that’s terrible. That could be months. How can you do that to people?’ Her voice rose in outrage. Displacement, Elinor thought.

‘I think some families hold memorial services. To mark the passing of someone they love.’

‘That’s not what’s important,’ Torin said angrily. ‘She’s dead, that’s what matters. Not what they do to her body. It’s just dead meat now.’

Rachel’s hand flew to her mouth, revealing perfectly manicured plum-coloured nails. ‘Don’t say that, Torin. That’s your mum we’re talking about.’

‘It’s not my mum. My mum’s gone. What they’ve got at the morgue, it’s nothing but a bag of flesh and bones. It doesn’t matter. This is where she is now.’ He clapped a hand to his heart, his face screwed up in his determination not to cry.

‘Of course she’s still in our hearts.’ Elinor passed the biscuits to Torin. ‘About your mother,’ she said to Rachel. ‘Will you phone her and break the news? Or is there a neighbour…?’

‘I’ll phone her later. I told her I’d speak to her this evening, once I knew what was what. So, if we can’t have a funeral, there’s no real reason why we have to stay up in Bradfield, is there?’ It was as if she couldn’t wait to get away.

‘Well, you’ll have to register the death. And deal with the estate,’ Elinor said.

‘Because the sooner we get Torin down to Bristol and settled in there, the better,’ she continued, as if Elinor hadn’t spoken.

Her words galvanised Torin, who straightened out of his slump and shifted to the edge of his seat. ‘Bristol? I’m not going to Bristol.’

‘Of course you are, don’t be silly. We’re your family, we’re all you’ve got left now, with your dad off wherever he is. You’ll come to Bristol and live with me. Or your gran, whichever you prefer. We’ve both got room.’ She sounded matter of fact, as if it was open and shut.