The cemetery is quiet but Theo still lowers his voice as he talks to his mum. He describes the article he found in his dad’s study two days ago. ‘I think Dad is trying to find someone,’ he says, picking at the grass with his fingers. It feels like straw. He’s been unable to stop thinking about it. He’d memorized the two names from the paper. Saffron Cutler and Rose Grey. Find Her. But which one and why?

For the years after his mother died his dad has remained an enigma to Theo, hiding part of himself, refusing to talk about anything important. In those months after her death the two of them had rattled around in that house and he’d thought, naively he realizes now, that they could provide comfort to each other. Maybe even become closer. But instead, after that first night at the hospital and his dad’s rare outpouring of emotion, there had been nothing. Just silence. His dad had gone back to work after the funeral, leaving Theo to wallow in loneliness and grief.

He knew his parents’ marriage had been far from perfect. Looking back now, he can see his dad was possessive. The way he demanded his mum change her outfit if he thought she was wearing something ‘too tarty’ as he put it. Theo had never thought his mum looked tarty. Jen would, quite rightly, slap Theo’s face if he ever said anything like that to her. He smiles at the thought of his feisty wife. His little firebomb. But his mum would just sigh good-naturedly, then go and change into something more nun-like to please her husband. She very rarely went anywhere with friends – in fact, he can’t remember her having any female friends. His parents would go out to dinner with other couples – older couples from his dad’s work – stuffy galas and dinner parties. But his mum never went far without his dad.