The Magician inverted, the Fool and the Ten of Cups revealed the knicker thief to be the woman’s bumptious  neighbour who had developed an obsessive crush on her. Imelda couldn’t decide if the woman was flattered or furious, or maybe a little of each. After two and a half hours of readings, Imelda was exhausted and decided to call it a night. She packed up her things and woke Grisha, who was snoring gently on his blanket. She could hear Jeanie’s voice coming from the entertainment lounge. She was belting out Shirley Bassey’s ‘Big Spender’, and judging from the applause that followed, the crowd loved it. Imelda wished that she could avoid any more people tonight, but she had to walk through the bar to get out. The room was hot and noisy, and very crowded. Ruby was chatting dutifully to some of the guests, but she looked tired, almost haunted. Imelda made a mental note to seek her out and see if there was anything that she could do to help. But not tonight. She edged her way along the line of palm tree lamps, skirting the pink flamingos that Grisha sniffed with worrying interest. She urged him on, fearful that he might decide to relieve himself against one of their spindly legs. She saw Jeanie weaving through the crowd, receiving many well-deserved congratulations on her performance as she made her way to the bar followed by her accompanist, Charlie Martin. Waiting for them, dressed in a very tight, very short red dress was Vivienne. She was perched on a bar stool with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, chatting to Sara-Jade, but her eyes kept darting across to a nearby table where three men were drinking beer and trading card tricks. One of them was a stranger to Imelda, perhaps a guest at the holiday park, but to his left sat Titus Marlow, the hypnotist, and the man dealing the cards was Cillian Byrne.

Imelda walked on through the noise and lights, eager to be outside beneath the unconfined canopy of a star-studded sky and feel the cool air on her face. But as she reached the door, she couldn’t resist a brief backward glance. He was looking directly at her. He held her gaze for just a moment and then returned to his cards.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Now

‘They’ll start putting up the Christmas decorations any day now, I expect,’ said Henry, stirring sugar into his flat white. Billie was on her way to Brighton but having made her customary visit to her talisman, Sir John Betjeman, she had stopped to have a coffee with Henry before catching her train. She pulled a face.

‘It’s too soon. It’s only just November. It stops it being special when it drags on for too long. Christmas shouldn’t start before the first of December.’