Josephine was stricken with guilt, Michael could see that, but he didn’t care. His wife wouldn’t open a letter if you paid her a million pounds – she couldn’t. She hadn’t opened a letter for years; it was another one of her foibles. He had always accepted her eccentricities, tried his hardest to be supportive, because he loved her so much. Now he wasn’t so sure he had done the right thing. All his support seemed to have achieved was to allow his wife to become more and more reclusive. He had enabled her to give in to her fears.

‘Why didn’t you fucking ring me, Josephine? Or get Dana to? Didn’t it occur to you that this letter might be about your daughter? I mean, when was the last time anyone sent you a fucking letter? I can’t believe that you didn’t care enough about your own child to open it or at least ask someone else to do it for you. Now we’ve missed the chance to talk to whoever might be holding her. Can’t you see how fucking wrong this is? How fucking dangerous you are? Because you still can’t bring yourself to do something as normal as opening a fucking letter!’ He was bellowing at her now, shouting at her with all his might, venting all the anger and frustration that had been brewing inside him for such a long time.

‘For years I have pretended that there is nothing wrong with you. I loved you so fucking much I went along with everything – your fucking hoarding, your fucking refusal to accept reality. I even swallowed you becoming a recluse. I’ve paid out fortunes for the best doctors available. I’ve done everything in my power to help you. But do you know what? I wish I’d fucking known then what I know now. I think you like being a recluse, you like living in these two rooms, surrounded by your boxes of old fucking crap. It gives you the excuse you need to justify your life. Even Jake doesn’t matter any more, does he? Like me and Jessie, he can’t compete with the world you’ve created for yourself. No one can. How could they? Because it’s all about you, isn’t it?’ Michael opened his arms out wide. ‘Look around you, Josephine. This is it, darling. This is your crowning achievement. Two rooms and a poxy little bathroom. I hope you think it was worth it.’