‘I told you I was kidding,’ he said, but she’d already walked away and disappeared inside the pub. He took his phone from his pocket, tapped in his code and read the message:

Jeremy Arlo

Still ok for tomorrow night?

He stared at it for a few moments, weighing up his options. He wasn’t sure why, but his confidence wasn’t as high as it usually was.

Achilles Cleverley

Of course!

He watched as the blue dots indicated Jeremy was typing and waited for the reply.

Jeremy Arlo

Great, looking forward to it.

Achilles experienced something approaching shame. He’d never before cared about the feelings of the men whose money he extorted, they were just casual marks to him, but something about the idea of Jeremy sitting at home alone, planning dinner or drinks for the following night, made him feel bad. He considered typing something kind in reply, but Rebecca reappeared at that moment and stood by her chair.

‘I’m really sorry,’ she said. ‘But my mum just called me while I was in there. She’s in a bad way.’

‘She’s sick?’

‘She’s depressed. I should probably go home to her.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’m sorry. Can we do this another time? I have to be there for her.’ She took her coat from the back of her chair. ‘You do understand, don’t you?’

‘This isn’t just a ruse to leave, is it?’ he asked. ‘Because if you’re not interested in me, you can just say so and—’

‘It’s not a ruse,’ she said. ‘Honestly, things have just been really difficult at home. Look, text me, okay? We’ll do this again, I promise.’

He nodded and stood up, moving closer towards her, hoping for a kiss, but she turned her head, offering only her cheek. And then, a moment later, she was gone.

Disappointed, he watched her disappear into the night and wondered whether this was what falling in love felt like. And then, after a few moments, he began to feel angry. It was night time, after all, he looked great and had nowhere to go. Sure, he could go to a club and pick up a girl easily enough, but he didn’t want to do that. No one had ever walked out on him before. Add that to the things the ghost had said to him earlier on the Tube, and the evening was turning into a disaster. He took his phone from his pocket and tapped out a quick message.

Achilles Cleverley

Actually, you don’t fancy meeting this evening, do you? Don’t think I want to wait until tomorrow!

And it only took a minute or two before Jeremy’s reply arrived:

Jeremy Arlo

Absolutely! Where are you?

WE

The atmosphere in the living room was strained when Elizabeth came downstairs to open the front door to Wilkes and, as they walked inside to join her parents, she could tell they’d been discussing the reaction to her father’s latest antics on television. Husband and wife sat facing each other on opposite sofas while Ustym Karmaliuk stood silently on the glass table between the two, his small head moving back and forth, as if he was an umpire on the court of play.