Viv squeezed her sister’s hand. ‘Of course I will. You’ll feel better once you go there too. Tell Mum what you’ve just told me. We’ll take her some fresh flowers an’ all.’

‘Thank you,’ smiled Queenie.

‘You sure there’s nothing else you ain’t telling me? You’ve lost weight. And you came back from Ireland glowing with happiness. Did you by any chance see Daniel while you were over there?’ Viv was well aware of the crush Queenie had had on Daniel when they were growing up.

‘Only briefly. He don’t change. Left a girl standing at the altar recently. Her family are seething, and they aren’t people to be messed with, so Daniel’s lying low. That man has spent that much time in hiding, he might as well have been sent down for a ten-stretch!’

Viv laughed. ‘He was always one for the girls. A proper heartbreaker. ’Ere you know who he reminds me of? Your Michael. He’s another Daniel. You sure you two have never had an affair in later life and you forgot to tell me,’ joked Viv.

Queenie smiled. Her sister was close, but had the wrong son. She would usually tell Viv all her secrets, but what had happened between herself and Daniel was sacred. Never to be spoken of to anyone. That’s how special it had been – and still was.

Albie Butler trudged dejectedly towards home. Since calling it off with Maureen, he had nothing to look forward to. Nothing whatsoever. He was even debating whether to get in touch with her again, but Vinny’s threats to kill her kids had chilled him to the bone. It wasn’t fair. A son was meant to be scared of his father, not the other way around.

Having had nothing but beer money the past few days, Albie had finally earned enough to buy a small bunch of flowers to leave outside the cafe for Peter. He could only afford the cheapest bunch, so had nicked a few from the graveyard to bulk up a bit. He didn’t want to look tight or skint.

The police had announced yesterday that Peter had been strangled before he’d been dumped in the Thames. The whole community was in shock. The lad had had a bit of a dodgy reputation for flashing and touching up young girls, but even just looking at him you could see he wasn’t the full shilling. He was like an older version of Lenny, Albie thought.

There were lots of people milling about outside the cafe, including Jack and Ethel, Peter’s parents, who were reading all the lovely cards left with the flowers.

Albie laid his bunch, shook Jack’s hand, hugged Ethel and said how sorry for their loss he was. As he turned to leave, he saw Vinny standing there with a huge arrangement, smirking at him.

Albie went to turn on his heel, but Vinny grabbed his shoulder. ‘You ever cheat on Mum again, you’ll end up in the Thames an’ all,’ Vinny whispered in his ear.