Brenda gave her email address – her name followed by some numbers and a domain name. Alice typed it into the to: bar, then hit send.

‘I’ve sent you an email,’ she said. ‘That way you’ll have my email address too.’

‘You did?’ Brenda said. ‘OK.’

Alice went back to her inbox. She had a few emails from Ned, and one from her landlord. Ned’s could wait; the one from her landlord could be important.

She was about to open it when a new email appeared.

Undeliverable: email address does not exist.

‘Hey,’ she said. ‘I think I got your address wrong. It bounced back.’ She read the email address to Brenda, who frowned.

‘That’s it,’ Brenda said. ‘That’s right.’

‘I’ll try again.’

The same thing happened. The email came back.

‘Are you sure that’s the correct address?’ Alice said.

‘Hundred per cent,’ Brenda said. ‘You know, I’ve been having some issues with my account. Maybe because it’s in Australia. We can try again later. If it doesn’t work, I’ll give you Nicky and Donna’s too.’

She took off her boots and socks. ‘Anyway, how about a swim?’

Alice had intended to swim, but now she was here she was not so sure.

‘I dunno,’ she said. ‘It’s freezing!’

‘We have to,’ Brenda said. ‘We can’t come all this way and not go for a dip. And it’s my last chance to swim in the Lakes.’

‘OK,’ Alice said. ‘But one thing before we do. I wanted to show you something weird.’

There was something unusual about Brenda, something she couldn’t put her finger on. When she had mentioned the names of her friends – Nicky and Donna – Alice had realized that she had not mentioned them before. She had hardly referred to them at all – just two friends she was travelling with.

Yet they went back together a long way. Was it weird that the places they’d been hadn’t come up in conversation?

She wasn’t sure. But she got the impression Brenda was hiding something, and she wanted to prod a little. Then there was the cash and the two passports. It was probably nothing, and she knew it was none of her business, but she’d probably never see Brenda again, so she might as well ask.

‘Yeah?’ Brenda said. ‘What is it?’

She opened her Facebook app and searched for Brenda Yates. The lookalike profile came up.

‘Take a look.’

Brenda took the phone. She stared at it for a while, scrolling down the screen.

‘That is weird,’ she said. ‘Very fucking weird. She looks a lot like me.’

‘And she’s from Perth. And has the same name.’