Marion bristled. ‘This is the first time I have been in here, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Aye. And which of these two boys have you come with, George or Chris?’

‘George.’

She raised her eyebrows, sliding her smiling eyes to George. ‘What’s a nice girl doing with a man like you, George?’

Chris laughed, showing too much teeth, enjoying George’s clear discomfort.

Marion didn’t like the woman, and felt unsettled that she seemed to know both George and Chris so well. ‘George and I are old friends. This is our second Hogmanay together.’ She held out her hand. ‘My name’s Marion.’

‘And I’m Evie. Good to meet you, Marion.’ She leant a little closer. ‘I’m going on my break now. Would you care to go outside? We can leave the boys to their beer. It’s so noisy in here.’

George tried to stop her but Marion was feeling riled. She found herself saying, ‘I’d love some fresh air.’

Evie poured herself an orange juice, then led Marion out to the back of the pub. They sat down on a wooden bench in the dark, looking up at the sky. A waxing moon shimmered behind a thin cloud. It would be a frosty night for certain.

‘Would you care for a smoke, Marion?’ Evie took a packet of cigarettes from her skirt.

‘No, thank you.’ Marion sipped her sherry. She was surprised that she had agreed to come outside with this woman she didn’t know and didn’t think she much liked. Some kind of instinct must have guided her. She came straight to the point. ‘How do you know George and Chris?’

‘I was at school with them both. Right pair of cheeky boys they were. George was a charmer, all right. He could twist any situation to his advantage, which meant Chris got the blame for everything.’

Marion took another sip of her sherry. ‘Like what?’

‘I’m no snitch.’ Evie chuckled. ‘Still, Chris has done all right for someone who wasn’t very good at school. He has a car business.’

‘Yes, I know’

‘Do you? And he hasn’t had any more trouble?’

Marion asked sharply, ‘What trouble?’

‘Oh, something and nothing.’ Evie shrugged. ‘A mix up. The police investigated but I don’t think they found anything.’

‘What were they looking for?’

Evie shrugged her shoulders. ‘Och, they said he was laundering money. I mean, really. He’s just not clever enough. Now, if it had been George they wanted to talk to, I could have believed them.’

‘George is an honest man,’ Marion said primly. ‘I would trust him with my life.’

Evie laughed. ‘Lord love you. Did your mother not tell you not to trust any man?”

Marion said nothing.

Evie took a last inhale of her cigarette, then ground the butt beneath her shoe. ‘You’re the girl he talks about, aren’t you?’

‘Am I?’ Crawfie was tight-lipped.

‘Aye, you are. He’s always talking about you.’

So, George did think about her when they were apart. That was good to know – but it was also very bad that he was airing their personal life in public houses. Marion felt a little queasy.