Jack loved returning of an evening to his ever-changing home. This house, or one like it, had been their dream ever since they moved from Totnes. They’d been priced out of the London market for so long, but after Jack’s ‘windfall’, they jumped on this property by quickly offering £15k below the asking price, in cash. Within a week, they were in. The windfall was attributed to an impulsive lottery ticket purchase, which Maggie never questioned. Jack didn’t know whether she thought he was lying, or whether she was just too scared of hearing the truth. All Maggie knew for sure was that her husband was a changed man after the Rose Cottage case. He was found. He now knew where he belonged and that, for any person, was life-changing.

*

Penny didn’t know that Jack had even looked for his real dad, let alone that he’d found out he was the son of Harry Rawlins, one of London’s biggest gangsters in the 1980s. That was Jack and Maggie’s secret. But the ‘gift’ of £250,000 was Jack’s secret alone. Jack knew it was the proceeds of crimes from back in the ’80s; he knew it was untraceable; he knew the thieves were long gone; he knew the case file was closed. No one knew or would care . . . and all that made it easy to keep, and easy to spend.

The money had now dwindled, but Penny’s pension and Jack’s sergeant’s wages kept them ticking over. As a new young family, they were firmly on the social ladder – they wouldn’t fall off unless Jack got sacked, but on the other hand they wouldn’t climb unless he got promoted. For the first time in years, it felt as though life was where it should be.

The baby would complete the family, and Jack and Maggie would get married once she’d got her figure back – her words, not his – he was loving her big breasts and ample backside . . .

But Jack’s dream evening vanished in a split second when he saw the car parked in his space on the street. They had visitors.