It never occurred to her that he might actually love her, care for her as the mother of his children and as his wife. All she saw was that James was loving his new role in the family set-up. He was the main breadwinner, but he was also finally the head of his own household, as hard as that was for her to admit. He came and went as he pleased now.

Cynthia couldn’t kick up too much fuss – she needed him these days, far more than she had ever thought possible. In fact, it was outrageous just how much she now needed him. She had played a hand that she had believed was a winner only to find out it was the opposite. The Old Bill had listened to her and then served her up without a second’s thought for her welfare. She should have guessed that Jonny would have them in his pocket; he was too shrewd not to.

If Cynthia had achieved her objective, her sister’s husband would be banged up now for the duration, and she would have felt a distinct satisfaction about that. She would have watched them fall, and from a fucking great height at that. Instead, she had inadvertently sabotaged any kind of life that could have come her way. She had, in effect, chewed her own foot off, because she was paying a terrible price for her treachery.

Celeste, in fairness, wanted her to have nice things, wanted her sister to have money in her bin and Celeste, most of all, wanted her to be content. As if she could have ever accepted that, especially coming from her of all people! But now, though, Cynthia knew she had to make some kind of amends, she had to prove herself worthy in some way. And she would do just that. She had to put herself on the line, make sure she was seen as a person of worth – not to the Filth, but to her sister and her sister’s husband.

It was all that was left to her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

‘Have a guess who I just saw?’

Jack Callahan shook his head, uninterested in his wife’s yammering.

‘Shaw Taylor, that’s who.’

Shaw Taylor was the star of a programme called Police 5 from the early sixties, where he would ask the public nicely to grass up various members of their families or their communities. Shaw Taylor was also the nickname they’d given Cynthia since she had caused all the trouble a year before. If she knew she would be mortified.

‘Was she on her way here?’

‘’Course not, she would have been here by now, stupid. She was going into the train station, so I assume she’s going up west.’