At last Johanna passed me the spliff. I took a drag, deep into my lungs. For a moment I thought I was going to die. Industrial-strength skunk had arrived since the last time I’d smoked what we quaintly called ‘pot’. It blocked my breath and made my brain dissolve. I realised Johanna was still talking, her voice echoing from Derbyshire.

‘The police interviewed Angie’s solicitor, who confirmed he was drawing up a new draft of her will, cutting out her husband. Doug told them that Calvin had bragged about ways of killing people without leaving a trace. I told them he’d once pressed his thumbs on my temples and said I’d be dead within a minute.’

I remembered Calvin speaking about Greg: ‘Shall I go and sort him out?’ He’d said it in a matter-of-fact way that had startled me. I remembered the day a magpie fell down my chimney, flapping its wings in a cloud of soot, and how he’d casually wrung its neck.

‘And there was all the fraud and forging of signatures, the lies and cheating,’ said Johanna. ‘I still can’t see how that would be enough to charge him so long after the event, and Angie cremated, but maybe those policemen found out more. Enough, anyway, to convince the CPS they could go ahead and arrest him. Maybe they hinted to Calvin that they had more evidence than they actually had, and gambled on him simply throwing up his hands and confessing, to reduce his sentence. He was a cornered rat. Maybe he was just weary of the whole thing and found it a relief to tell the truth, for the first time in his life. Maybe—you know how arrogant he was—maybe he wanted to brag about how he’d so cleverly pulled it off.’ She shrugged. ‘You tell me. Your guess is as good as mine.’

It was only then that I noticed the children. They’d arrived while we were talking—an Indian couple with two little girls. They were twins and wore identical pink dresses. They rose and fell on the swings, their plaits floating up and down. Their parents pushed them in silence.

‘I’ll give you a lift back,’ said Johanna. She put out her hand. ‘Help me up, will you? These leathers weigh a ton.’

I hauled her up.

‘We’re none of us getting any younger.’ She brushed grass clippings off her arms. ‘Doug’s mate Terry has taken over the business now.’

‘I know. I met him this morning. God, it seems like a week ago.’

Walking to Johanna’s motorbike, we waved to the little girls but they didn’t wave back.

‘Terry’s a big bloke, isn’t he?’ I said. ‘With him at the controls, I’m amazed a helicopter could even get off the ground.’