Elaine’s voice was dangerously low. Like most guilty partners, she found attack the best form of defence.

George looked at her long and hard. Surely she didn’t think he was jealous? By God, who would touch her, for Christ’s sake?

‘Of course I’m not checking up on you. I had one of my headaches, that’s all.’

Elaine squinted at him suspiciously, her old cantankerous self battling it out with the newer, more self-confident and laidback Elaine. As she stared at her husband it suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t even hate him any more. She didn’t feel anything at all, and wasn’t sure that wasn’t worse. At least while you were hating you were feeling something.

‘Shall I make you a nice hot drink, dear, and bring it up to you?’

‘OK, George.’ Elaine mounted the stairs. She was tired. George always made her feel tired and depressed. Thank God she had Hector.

When George brought her up a cup of Ovaltine a little while later, Elaine was sitting at the dressing table in her corset, taking off a pair of stockings. George placed the Ovaltine on the bedside table and watched her, surprised at just how much weight she had lost. Her legs were getting quite shapely! As she peeled off the stockings and waggled her toes George noticed some tiny red marks on her neck. His mouth set in a grim line. Elaine lifted her arms and unclasped her gold locket, the action causing her enormous breasts to rise up in the heavily underwired bra she wore. She moved naturally, as if after years of having her husband take no notice of her she was invisible to him. She glanced at him and jolted as she saw him watching her.

‘What’s the matter now, George?’ Her voice was clipped and demanded no reply.

He just carried on staring. She opened the jewellery box that held her few treasures and dropped the necklace into it.

‘Oh, by the way, George, here’s your tiepin. I nearly hoovered it up.’ She picked up a ring box from inside her underwear drawer and threw it to him. ‘I don’t know what possessed me to put it in my drawer. I meant to give it to you yesterday but I forgot.’

George caught the box and opened it. There was his tiepin. He grinned his widest grin. Going to Elaine, he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

‘Here, steady on, George.’ She pushed him off in disgust but he was too happy to notice.

He had the tiepin.

It was not lost.

There were no clues.

He was free as a bird.

Kate awoke to a feeling of lazy euphoria that seemed to have started somewhere in her legs and had, during the course of the night, washed through her entire body. She could smell Patrick Kelly on her and pulled the covers back over her head and breathed in the scent of him deeply.