‘We should get you out of here.’ Ben stood, walked to the door and poked his head out, looking either way along the corridor. ‘Hi, yes, excuse me – can I borrow you for a sec?’ Ben held the door open as a policewoman came into the room. ‘Can I take my wife home now?’

The officer, who was tall with brown hair tied into a neat ponytail, spoke softly.

‘You are absolutely free to leave, Mrs Cartwright.’ She turned her attention to Ben. ‘There is the issue of a formal identification.’

‘Oh, right erm, I don’t really have anything, babe, have you got your handbag?’ Ben walked back over to me. I looked at him through blurry stinging eyes.

‘What are you doing? She means Eve, you idiot.’ I heard the manner in which I spoke and I felt as though I were witnessing someone else entirely. Ben appeared sheepish. The police officer looked down at her feet.

Ben tried to speak quietly as if I would not hear. ‘I don’t think she’s up to the job.’

‘That’s fine, we’ve made an attempt to contact some family members,’ she said in a hushed tone as though I wouldn’t notice.

‘That’s pointless,’ I interrupted. ‘Her mother is a raging alcoholic, her dad is a complete couch potato and wouldn’t get off his fat arse if it was on fire, which under the circumstances, is quite apt really.’ The policewoman and Ben glanced uncomfortably at one another. ‘And her brother is somewhere shooting at the Taliban, so really, it only actually leaves me.’ I looked at Ben through red stinging eyes. ‘And she would want me to do it Ben.’

‘Well, I’ll do it with you and if you know… you feel you can’t, then I’ll be there.’

‘I’ll be fine, I’ll manage.’ I stood up and the blanket dropped to the floor. ‘Can I go now please?’ I addressed the policewoman who quickly cast her eyes down to my belly then back to my face.

‘Yes. Of course. I’ll see you both to the front desk and I will give you the directions to the chapel of rest. It doesn’t open for another few hours. There’s an all-night petrol station just around the corner, you could grab coffees from there until it opens at 9 a.m.’

Once outside, Saturday morning had begun to greet us with a pale grey sky. Ben offered an arm around me which I neither accepted nor declined. He walked stiffly next to me until we reached the car, which Ben had collected before he came and got me from the police station.

‘Daisy, I’ve called my mum. We’re going to go and stay with her.’ Ben delivered the news with an edge of wariness. He opened the passenger door and I barely nodded and got into the car. Ben walked around to the driver’s side and got in. He looked at me. ‘You don’t have to do this, this identification. They can find someone else, they can look at her driver’s licence for fuck’s sake.’