Rohan snorted. ‘Oh, please. The only thing my wife has been possessed with is artistic inspiration.’

‘Mum thinks it’s a bad spirit! Whoo-whoo!’ Mili said, waving her hands about. Clive concentrated on his food. Mili’s cheeks were flushed and she was biting her lip as if trying not to laugh; Meena rested her chin on her hand and looked steadily at Rohan. I squirmed.

‘Don’t you go pretending you don’t know what I mean,’ Meena said, waving a finger at Rohan. ‘You know exactly what I think about old houses. Who knows what energy is trapped here? Oh, don’t look at me like that, Rohan. You said yourself the cat would never go up to the attic. And Abigail’s alone up there all day, her heart and mind open to the universe…’

Rohan rolled his eyes. ‘I wish I’d never asked. Mum, you should write a Bollywood movie because, seriously, you have a brilliant imagination.’

‘Well, maybe I will.’ Meena folded her arms. ‘There’s always been a feel about this house. You know I told you that the first time I saw it.’

I looked at Clive for support but he raised a palm and shook his head: keep me out of this.

‘Have you told Ronu what you want to do?’ Mili asked. She sucked in her cheeks and played with the edging of the tablecloth – a picture of innocence – and Rohan glowered at his mother.

‘What do you want to do? Aside from the salt that you’ve already thrown around my house.’

Meena had the grace to look a little embarrassed. ‘Just some mustard seeds, beta, to ward off evil spirits.’

‘Whoo! I’m a ghost! I’m scared of mustard seeds!’ said Mili, flapping her arms.

‘Seriously?’ Rohan said to his mum. ‘Do I need to get my key back off you?’

Meena wrung her hands together. ‘Don’t be like that.’ She paused. ‘I’d really like to cleanse the house’s energy, too – just a simple thing, nothing whacky… Oh, Rohan, indulge your mother, please – it would make me feel better… I’m just worried about Abigail, that’s all. With you away and her alone… especially if she might soon be expecting.’ She paused; her mind having lit upon her other pet topic. Her head tilted sideways as she looked at Rohan. ‘Speaking of which, did you call the Harley Street doctor?’

I started to clear the plates.

Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019

‘You mentioned in passing that your mother is quite intuitive? Did she notice any changes in Abigail over this period? Any that she mentioned?’

‘Pff. The same as me, I guess. That she looked pale and had lost weight.’

‘I see. Did she have any thoughts on what could have caused this?’

[Sighs] ‘My mother is very superstitious. We humour her, but we don’t take her very seriously.’ [pauses] ‘She blamed the house.’