‘With respect, Josephine, do you really believe for a fucking moment that I haven’t been searching high and low for Jessie? No one knows a fucking thing. Not the Filth, not our workers. It’s fucking outrageous.’

Josephine felt awful. ‘I didn’t mean it how it came out, Michael, but I’m so worried about her. You need to get out there again and retrace her steps, there has to be someone who knows something.’

Michael interrupted his wife. He was still furious with her for losing them the only lead they’d had with the letter. How could she kid herself like this? ‘Are you having a fucking laugh? I’ve been out there looking for her since she first went AWOL. Unlike you, of course, Josephine, who still can’t bring yourself to leave your fucking bedroom. Who has sat here on your arse the whole time, drinking wine and watching your DVDs to take your mind off it all, and couldn’t even open a fucking letter! It’s a joke, Josephine. Your whole life is a fucking joke. This is your fault. Your life is what helped our Jessie to go off the rails. You always pretended everything was all right, but it wasn’t, Josephine. How dare you even try to tell me what I should be doing, when you have done fuck-all! You really can’t see how hard it’s been for me, can you? Watching you waste your life away up here like a fucking character from a storybook. It’s a fucking excuse of a life, Josephine, it has been for years. And it’s cost us our daughter.’

The pain Michael had caused his wife with his words was evident. She was white-faced, her eyes so big and wide she looked like a bush baby. He had hurt her badly, but he didn’t care. His daughter, for all she might be, was missing and could be dead, and he couldn’t play this game with his wife any more. He was sick of pretending that everything was normal. He couldn’t protect her from the truth any more – he didn’t want to. Josephine needed a reality check, and it had been a long time coming.

As she dropped her eyes from his, and turned away from him – acting like she was the only one of them who was hurting – he felt his anger building up inside his chest once more. She really knew how to play the victim.

‘Do you know what, Josephine? I can see what you’re doing, acting the innocent, as always. Poor old Josephine, who can’t be expected to do anything useful, not with all her problems, eh? Well, do you know what? You can go and fuck yourself because, unlike you, I’ve done everything in my power to locate Jessie. I know that and, more to the fucking point, you know that.’