‘I just wanted to apologise. That was all. Yesterday, when I came to see you, I really did want to do something right for once. I felt like I let you down before. I still feel like that. I saw a broken man whose life was ruined through no fault of his own. I thought if that were me, if I was that man, then I would want someone to come and tell me what they knew, especially if I was hurting at a graveside. It might not change anything but this information is not for me. It’s no good to me. I never even met your wife but like I said yesterday I’m not so good at subtle. So I’m sorry. That’s all I wanted to say. I won’t bother you anymore.’

Richard had stayed facing his wife but he turned to look behind him now. He watched the back of the man as he moved away until his dark colours seemed to lighten where the freezing mist started to consume him.

‘Do you have a card?’ Richard called after him. ‘Something … In case I want to talk to you later?’ The man stopped and spun on the grass. He had his hands firmly pushed into his coat pockets. It made him look wider.

‘No. I really shouldn’t be here. I could get into trouble. I can’t leave any details, anything that leads back to me.’

‘Some good deed,’ Richard said.

‘I tried. That will be good enough for me. I wanted to try at least.’ Now the mist swallowed him whole. Richard scooped up his coffee and shook it out of the lid. The burning hot remnants slopped on his exposed wrist and he barely noticed. He rose to his feet to search the mist to try to spot the man’s direction. He could go after him. Maybe he should go after him. He shook his head. Maybe that was what the man wanted; once Richard went chasing him for information the tables had turned. Richard had enough life experience to know a sales technique when he saw it, and he didn’t want anything of what the man was selling.

‘Good deed!’ Richard puffed his words out. ‘No one does anything for nothing.’ He poured another coffee.