Emma padded in from the kitchen and nudged Judith’s hand with her head for a stroke.

‘She likes you,’ Suzie said.

‘And I like her,’ Judith said, bending down to give Emma a quick fuss. ‘Such silky ears,’ she said to the dog.

‘We should go upstairs. That’s where I live. The dogs have down here. I have upstairs. Come on.’

Suzie unclipped the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, told Emma to wait and headed upstairs.

Judith followed and was pleased to see that the first floor had deep-pile carpets, side tables with silk flowers in vases and lots of artwork in clip frames on the walls. In fact, it was very pretty, Judith thought to herself, even if the air was heavy with the punch of wall socket air fresheners and stale cigarette smoke.

‘Well, this is lovely,’ Judith said as Suzie led her into a sitting room that was covered in dozens of family photos through the years.

‘Thank you,’ Suzie said with obvious pride. ‘So where’s Becks?’

‘She said she had a parish meeting she had to attend. If I’m honest, I think she was making an excuse. So what happens now?’

‘I reckon we just have to wait until Fred delivers the post,’ Suzie said as she picked up her metal tin from a side table. ‘Mind if I smoke?’

‘Of course not. You go ahead.’

While Suzie got out the materials required to make a cigarette, Judith went over to a large poster on the wall that had photos tucked into the frame. She pointed to a photo of a boy in a baby bouncer.

‘Is this one of yours?’

‘That’s my grandson.’

‘He’s gorgeous. How old is he?’

‘In that photo? About two years old.’

‘Lovely,’ Judith said. ‘How old is he now?’

‘Six, I think,’ Suzie said as she lit her cigarette. ‘Yes, that’s right. Six.’

Judith realised there weren’t any photos of the child older than about two or three years old. In fact, now she was looking more closely, all of the photos in the room looked quite old and faded.

‘Do you see much of your grandson?’

‘Oh yes, I see Toby all the time,’ Suzie said, although Judith detected a brittleness to her answer. ‘But this is my refuge. Where I have everything I need. My family,’ she said, indicating the photos on the walls, and then she turned to the television. ‘My entertainment. And even a chef if I need it,’ she added as a final flourish, nodding her head in the direction of an old microwave on a hostess trolley.

‘Yes, it’s very nice,’ Judith said, but she was aware that maybe Suzie wasn’t telling the whole story, so she decided to change the subject and turned back to the poster that the photos were tucked into.

‘I like this poster,’ she said.