It was a very unsatisfactory outcome, particularly for Carole and Jude. Dr Rawley was given a three-year sentence and Jeremiah, who had not actually used a weapon, eighteen months. There was a move to have the doctor struck off by the General Medical Council, but it was discovered that he had been many years before. Since then he’d been operating illegally under a variety of names, in the USA and Australia as well as the UK. When suspicions built up in one locality, he just moved on to another under a new identity. And presumably Jeremiah moved at the same time. Their cynical scams had been going on for a long time.

After serving probably half of their prison sentences, the two of them would all too soon be out in society again. They would no doubt shift their theatre of operations again, but their evil practices would probably continue. The world will never lack for the gullible and the terrified, searching for a miracle cancer cure.

No action was taken – or needed to be taken – against the Magic of Therapy Centre in Smalting. It was a bona-fide concern which rented out treatment space to various alternative therapists. All those who used it had produced some form of professional validation and the fact that among them was the occasional con artist was not the fault of the centre.

Oh, and Carole finally allowed Jude to have a look at her right knee. It was on their return from a rather boozier lunch than Carole had intended at the Crown and Anchor. The weather had warmed up a bit, she was wearing a skirt and no tights, so there was no issue of undressing. Jude had noticed her hobbling on the way back to Woodside Cottage.

‘Let me just have a look at it,’ she pleaded.

And Carole, who was in pain and had rung the Fethering Surgery that morning to be told she couldn’t get an appointment for three weeks, made the concession.

Jude did not even get out her treatment bed. She just felt the swollen joint and identified the problem immediately. Dr Rawley’s diagnosis of arthritis had been (like so much else in his life) wrong.

‘Hm. Have you been doing something recently that involved a lot of kneeling?’

‘No, I don’t think I – ooh, yes, when I redecorated the spare room a few weeks back, I had to kneel a lot when I was painting the skirting board.’

‘And was that when the pain started?’

‘I can’t really remember but … you know it could have been.’

Jude grinned. ‘There you are then. It’ll soon clear up. All you need to do is take lots of ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and rest it up as much as possible.’

Carole was very disappointed. ‘That’s just the kind of thing the GP would have said to me.’

‘So? That’s the standard treatment.’

‘Nothing more?’