‘Thing is…’ Lydia rubbed her hands together. ‘I don’t need you any more. Thank you for everything that you’ve done and stuff, but you don’t need to do any more for me, because he loves me now and he wants to be with me.’

Lydia was in a manic mood and Karin knew to tread carefully. ‘Okay.’

‘He says you’re no good for me and I have to stay away from you.’

‘Who?’ Karin perched on the sofa arm. ‘Who are you talking about, Lydia?’

‘My boyfriend.’

‘You’ve got a boyfriend,’ Karin said in surprise. ‘That’s nice. What’s his name?’

‘Matt.’

‘Matt.’ Lydia’s relationships tended to be short and unhappy. She attached herself to a motley collection of addicts, thieves and thugs who usually got her more deeply involved in petty crime and encouraged her addiction, or took what little money and belongings she had and disappeared, never to be seen again. ‘I’m pleased for you, Lydia, I really am. But where did you meet him?’

‘He’s in my drug support group. I met him at the drop-in.’

Karin smiled. ‘Perhaps I could meet him.’

‘Why?’ Lydia said sharply. ‘Why do you want to do that?’

‘Of course I want to. I’d love to meet the man who’s made you so happy.’

‘That’s right, he loves me!’ Lydia folded her arms across her bony chest. ‘He says he’s going to take care of me. He’s going to take me away so we can start again, just me and him, but not around here, somewhere else. We’re going to get married and have kids, yeah, we’re in love and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

‘I’m glad you’re happy, Lydia,’ said Karin with caution. ‘Of course I am. Why don’t you sit down?’

‘I don’t want to. He’s had his problems, like I have, but he’s a good man. He loves me, he says so. He’s the one, definitely, yeah.’ Lydia picked at a dirty nail. ‘But he asked me about you.’

Karin felt the first stirrings of panic. ‘Why did he ask about me?’

Lydia looked away. ‘He knows all about you, and he says that you’re toxic, that’s the word he used. Toxic.’

‘What does he know about me, Lydia?’ asked Karin.

‘He says you just want to keep me close, because…’

She stepped forward. ‘Because what?’

Lydia’s eyes darted around the room. ‘He says you’re scared of me.’

‘Why would I be scared of you, Lydia?’

‘Because I know things, things about, about… what happened.’ Lydia swallowed. ‘You know, at that place.’

Karin pressed her hands beneath her armpits so that Lydia couldn’t see them tremble. ‘What did you tell him, Lydia?’

‘We tell each other everything, yeah? Everything.’

Karin tried to smile. ‘I’d like to meet him.’