‘Right. I remember now.’ She caught his eye. ‘I’ve got a horrible feeling about what you’re going to say next.’

He nodded. ‘She was – is – my sister.’

There was a long pause, then Vicki puffed out her cheeks. ‘Holy shit.’ She gestured at the cigarette. ‘Got a spare?’

He handed her the packet.

She took one and lit it. ‘Did seeing that guy bring it back?’

‘Yes, but there’s more. Jenny – his fiancée – looks exactly like Maggie. I mean, the spitting image.’ James dropped his cigarette and crushed it under his toes. ‘For a moment I thought it was her.’

‘Fuck. I’m sorry.’

He shook his head. ‘I thought my sister was back.’

Vicki sat next to him. She shrugged her rucksack off her shoulders and opened the flap. She pulled out a plastic bottle of vodka.

‘Want a drink?’ she said.

James did.

4

Sandra watched as Martin nibbled his toast, then pushed it to the side of his plate.

‘He’s eighteen,’ she said. ‘He can stay out at night.’

‘I know. But I worry.’

‘He sent a text. He went back to a friend’s house. It’s fine.’

Martin nodded. ‘I like knowing where he is. That’s all.’

It was understandable, given what had happened with Maggie, and on another day Sandra might have shared his concern, but her mind was elsewhere.

It was on the appointment she had at the hospital later that morning.

For a few months she’d felt bloated after eating. Not every time, but enough to notice. She’d assumed it was some kind of late-onset food allergy – a colleague had developed an allergy to apples a year or so back, so she knew that kind of thing happened – and tried cutting out various things: wheat, dairy, alcohol. None of it made a difference.

Then there was the weight loss. Not too drastic, but noticeable all the same. About ten pounds in total. She put it down to the bloating and change in diet.

But then, two weeks ago, she had gone to the toilet at the gym and seen blood on the toilet paper. She’d looked at the stool.

Blood in there, too.

Of course, she made the mistake of googling ‘blood in stool’, and was convinced, mere minutes later, that she was going to die.

She calmed herself. There were many possible causes. Haemorrhoids. Benign polyps. It could easily resolve itself.

It didn’t. The blood was there every day, so she went to see her GP.

Who told her she needed to get it checked out, and referred her for a colonoscopy.

Which was in about an hour and a half.