‘Tell me something else, something nobody in this whole world knows about you.’

‘Wow, Jaysus, that’s a tall order.’ She thought for a moment. There was only one thing about Maisie that no one else in the world knew. Should I? If I want to put him off me, I should. It’ll make letting him down easier and, anyway, it’s the truth and he asked.

‘I thought about killing Danny once.’ She waited for Fred’s look of horror, followed by a swift gesture to the fruity waiter for the bill.

Instead, he broke into a grin. ‘Oh, yeah? How would you have done it?’ He leaned in, still with that grin.

She was relieved – so relieved that she laughed and shook her head as she admitted, ‘I was thinking rat poison in his dinner.’

‘Appropriate.’ He nodded. ‘But not as effective as you’d think.’

‘No?’

‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘Besides, a fella like him deserves something a lot more painful.’

‘I did think about backing into him in the driveway once and pinning him to the garage door, maybe throwing a few darts at him as he took his final breaths.’

‘Much better.’

She laughed, then fell silent. It’s not funny, though. I wanted to kill him. She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I even bought the poison.’

‘And what did you do with it?’

‘I flushed it down the loo as soon as I got home. You probably think I’m a mad woman.’ I know I do.

‘Maisie, I’d think you were a mad woman if you hadn’t imagined killing that animal. Thinking isn’t the same as doing.’ He averted his eyes. ‘Not the same at all.’ His mood changed and, for a fleeting moment, he was sombre. Something bothered him but Maisie was smart enough to notice and smarter still not to push him about it. The good news was that he didn’t think she was psychotic, and as a guard he was qualified to know. It was reassuring.

‘And what about you? I don’t know a thing about you, other than that you bought your ma’s house from your brother when she died, you like two sugars in your tea and the odd cake, but you’re not a biscuit man.’

He smiled. ‘Sorriest thing I ever did was buy that house. The fuckin’ electrics alone cost a fortune and the pipes – Jaysus, don’t talk to me about the pipes.’ He put down his cutlery. She waited.

‘I was engaged once.’

Maisie’s mouth fell open, just like Valerie’s had earlier that day. ‘What happened?’

‘She was in the force, on foot patrol. There was a fire in a shop on Store Street. A woman and two children were stuck in the dressing room. Joy radioed it in and then she ran in against orders. By the time the Fire Brigade got there it was too late.’