‘Look, it’s the Yanks who thought them up. They kidnap some bird. Tie her up. Rape her and all that, you know . . . And her screams and moans are real, get it? Real. It’s true. I’ve got a new lot in and they are well dawdy, I can tell you. There’s one where the bird is actually dead and they still fuck the arse off her. Going like hot cakes they are.’

George’s eyes were gleaming.

‘How much did you say they were?’

‘Two hundred smackers, mate. And cheap at the price. I can tell yer.’

‘Can I pay by Barclaycard? Only I haven’t got any more cash, you see.’

‘’Course you can, guv. We take everything here. Even American Express. Just as long as you have some other form of identification, we’re cooking with gas.’

The man smiled and George smiled back. He felt as if he had found a true friend.

‘If I was to give you a ring every now and then to see what was in stock, so to speak . . .’

The man patted his shoulder.

‘’Course you can, my old cocker. I’ll save you anything a bit near the mark. How’s that?’ The man knew a policeman from thirty paces and was patting himself on the back. This bloke was a right prat.

‘Oh, thank you so much. Where I live . . .’ He spread his hands helplessly.

‘I know what you mean. People don’t understand us real men, do they?’

The shopkeeper was busy taking the credit card from George before he had time to change his mind.

‘No, they don’t.’

He left ten minutes later, with his mask and his new film, both in a plain brown carrier bag clutched in his sweaty hand.

Looking around him at the faces and sounds of Soho, George Markham felt as if he had finally come home.

When Elaine opened the front door after her day at work, George had the dinner on and a pot of tea waiting for her.

‘Sit yourself down, my love, you must be tired out. I’ve made us a nice bit of steak and chips.’

Elaine stared at her husband as if she had never seen him before. He seemed almost happy.

‘Thank you, George. I must say I’m glad you bothered to cook. I didn’t feel like it one bit.’

He chucked her under the chin as he placed a cup of steaming tea in front of her.

‘For you, my precious, anything!’

He grinned at her, and Elaine grinned back.

There was definitely something odd here. The last time George had chucked her under the chin had been over twenty years ago, when they had still been happy. She sipped her tea and tried to shake off her suspicions. That had been before they’d had to move. Before everything had started going wrong.

Elaine drank her tea, watching George as he cooked.