‘Are you sure you’re alright?’ Ida asked. ‘I can tell that you’re troubled.’

‘Ida’s clairvoyant,’ Helena said.

Oh, God. Not Helena too now. Petra opened her mouth, about to say something but not sure what it should be.

But Helena started laughing. ‘Look at her face!’

Ida cackled along. ‘We got you, alright.’

‘You really thought I was being serious!’ Helena said. ‘You think I’ve finally gone soft.’

Petra shook her head. ‘Not funny, Mom. I’ve had a weird week. People have been trying to convince me of all sorts of rubbish.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Just last night I crossed paths with a conman. He was pretty good at his job. He was taking advantage of a friend of mine, who’s grieving.’

‘Those guys irritate the hell out of me,’ Helena said. ‘The ones who pretend to talk to the dead. Offer fake comfort to poor grieving people as if they could ever talk to their dead loved ones.’

‘Ja, that’s exactly what this guy last night was doing.’

Ida tutted as Helena said, ‘Bloody vultures. Remember that guy who tried to rip us off after Dad died? He was really good too, wasn’t he?’ She turned to Ida and explained. ‘After Rod died, this shyster came to our door, said he was from the wills department of the bank and we just needed to sign some papers. He was perfect in the role – the cheap suit, the comb-over, just the right amount of sweat; he knew so many details about Rod’s accounts, his work, everything. Turns out he was a crook, and I only found out in time because I phoned the bank to find out Rod’s account number to fill in on his form. I still don’t know how he knew all that stuff about Rod.’

‘There was nothing magical about it,’ Petra said, a little too vehemently. ‘Dad wasn’t great at internet security – anyone could have read his emails. Or the guy could have gone through his trash and collected his bank statements. This guy I met last night was a different level. Made himself out like a showman, a magician. Like those TV psychics.’ Helena and Ida nodded, leaning forward towards her, something in Ida’s face jarring – where did she know her from? ‘It’s all cold reading, of course.’

‘Of course.’ Ida pursed her lips and shook her head, and said, ‘It’s not right,’ but because she was English, Petra wasn’t entirely sure whether she was being ironic. She couldn’t be certain, but she thought she detected a smirk around Ida’s lips.

After a moment when the conversation had dried up, Petra got up and started to gather the glasses and mugs onto the tray. As Helena had predicted, Ida’s mug was untouched, the coffee in it slick and cold.

‘Can I refresh that for you?’ she offered.

‘Not for me.’

She picked up the tray and turned towards the kitchen, and a cloud shifted and sunlight from the window fell full onto Ida’s face and reflected off the TV screen back to Petra. Petra stifled a gasp. She jerked to clutch at the tray and only just avoided tipping it and smashing it all over the hallway tiles.