Quintin Farrelly came in at three o’clock to pick up six rare books that I had restored and rebound for him in full calf. He paid up immediately and in full as he always did, and I wished we had a few more customers like him, as I always did.

After he had gone Evelyn put her head round the door. ‘I’m back,’ she told us. She was wearing a tiered gipsy skirt and pointed-toe cowboy boots.

‘Mummy,’ Cassie shouted and slithered off her stool to run to her.

With Cassie in her arms Evelyn wheedled, ‘Pen, why don’t you stop for half an hour and have a cup of tea with me? I really want to tell you what happened in class.’

Penny hesitated and I said, ‘Let’s shut up early. We’ve got Colin sorted out and Quintin’s cheque to put in the bank.’

I had something I wanted to do, too.

I walked home beside the khaki canal water, but of course our house was empty when I reached it. Jack had told me he would be late because of Bird Club. I left the house again and drove straight to Turnmill Street. I had to park at the very far end because the road was lined with cars and I was still sitting in the driver’s seat when I glanced up and saw Jack in the distance. He walked straight up to Audrey’s house without seeing my car and turned in at the gate. I couldn’t see her front door from this angle but he stood on the step for only a few seconds.

Ever since Audrey had said That’s right I had been guessing that Bird Club was a fiction and this was where he was spending his after-school hours.

I locked the car now and took five steps towards the house before I stopped. I tried to reconcile uncomfortable feelings: I didn’t want Jack to have secrets from me, any more than I wanted to keep what I knew from him. I was jealous of Audrey because my son chose to spend his after-school hours with her and unhappy, but not very surprised, to discover that he needed to lie about his whereabouts.

I walked another ten paces, then stopped again. I didn’t like the picture from any angle.