His son was dead. His marriage was dead.

Elaine was having an affair, he knew she was. He was so certain he could taste it. He could actually see her sometimes with a faceless man, in the back of a car. See her enormous breasts heaving with excitement. See her big fat behind being lowered on to some man’s member. And it excited him. It made him want to watch them. It made him want to hide and see them doing it. It made him want to come inside his pants just thinking about it. His breathing was laboured now.

She wasn’t so fussy now, was she? No more missionary position for Elaine nowadays. Not judging by the marks on her neck. He would like to put his hands around her neck and squeeze gently, till she expired.

Four women were dead. But it wasn’t his fault. They had asked for it the same way that Elaine was asking for it and the girl on the train had asked for it. He had told the police that she had smiled at him, had led him on. But they didn’t believe him.

They had believed her, and she was a whore. They were all whores.

And he had been locked up like a criminal! A common criminal. When all he had done was given her what she wanted. What they all wanted.

Then in the prison he had been beaten up by men who were no better than animals, and yet they put themselves above him!

But he had sat it out. He had won in the end because he had come out and had gone to Elaine and had got himself a job and had provided. He had been a good provider, until the redundancy.

What was it Peter Renshaw had said? Spend some time with the grandchildren . . .

The only time he spent time with grandchildren was when they were someone else’s. George grinned to himself, thinking of Mandy Kelly, and knew that grandparents wouldn’t approve of his games.

He lay on the bed and let the feelings of warmth Mandy Kelly had created wash over him. He was a bit sorry she was dead, because he had quite liked her. After all, Mandy was his favourite name.

Feeling better now, he gradually relaxed.

Downstairs Elaine was sitting at the kitchen table eating her dinner. She was seeing Hector later in the evening and she thanked God for that. Since he had come into her life she had felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

The great weight was George and all he entailed.

Kate was draining spaghetti while her mother put the finishing touches to the bolognaise sauce.

‘Are you sure you don’t mind him coming for dinner, Mum?’

Evelyn looked at her daughter. ‘Now why should I mind that?’ She turned off the gas under the pan and went to the breakfast bar to begin laying it. Kate put the spaghetti into a buttered Pyrex dish and went to give her a hand.