Grisha licked the back of the young woman’s hand as tears pooled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She had come to Imelda with questions about her twin brother. The Fool, a Seven of Swords and The Magician inverted in the tarot spread told the sorry story of a foolish young man, enthralled and excited by the company of a brash and boastful Jack the Lad and his friends. Their drunken brawling and petty thieving had eventually landed them in trouble with the law, and the Judgement and Justice cards revealed that they had had their day in court and got exactly what they had deserved. Imelda handed the young woman, who was called Nina, a tissue.

‘He’s always been easily led. It was the same at school. He tagged along with the troublemakers trying to make himself look big, but he’s not really a bad lad. He’s just a bit soft in the head.’

‘And this time it went too far?’ Imelda could see from the cards that it had, but also from the tears and the hands twisting the tissue into shreds that Nina needed someone to talk to.

‘He met this lad at work. Rooster, they call him, because he’s always crowing. I never liked him. He was always egging my brother, Andy, on. Have another drink – a proper one this time, he’d say – else we’ll call you Namby-Pamby-Shandy-Andy. Andy thought the sun shone out of his you-know-where. It was always Rooster this, and Rooster that. He brought him home once, and Dad warned Andy that he was trouble – told him to steer clear. But he took no notice – of course he didn’t!’

Nina wiped her eyes angrily with what was left of the tissue and Grisha nudged her hand with his nose in sympathy.

‘Andy started wearing new clothes that I knew he couldn’t afford, and when I asked him where they came from, he would just wink and tap the side of his nose. Bloody idiot! Then one night in a pub, Rooster started mouthing off and baiting another group of lads and it ended in a punch-up. The police were called, and all the lads were arrested, including Andy in his flash new clobber. It turned out that the clothes had “fallen off the back of a lorry” being driven by one of Rooster’s mates. The police knew they’d been stolen and so Andy, Rooster and all his stupid mates were charged with theft and fencing stolen goods.’

Nina looked up into Imelda’s eyes, checking for disapproval, but found only sympathy.

‘And Andy ended up in prison?’

Nina confirmed that he was serving a two-year sentence.