‘He said that you were the love of his life and he thought he was going to lose you. He said he knew you were unhappy but he didn’t know how to make things right. He blamed himself. He said he’d been working so hard you’d barely seen each other and it had all been for nothing. I told him to talk to you, to tell you how he felt.’ She gives me a long, lingering look.

‘We didn’t have that conversation.’

‘I see.’

‘And when you met him recently, at the doctor’s, what did he say then?’

She looks surprised. ‘He said how sorry he was. He was really very apologetic. I said it was okay, that I’d already forgotten about it.’

‘And that’s it? That’s all the contact you’ve had since it happened?’

‘Yes.’ She runs a hand over her hair. A diamond glitters on the ring finger of her left hand. ‘That’s all the contact we’ve had, other than when the two of you were both here about Billy.’

‘Did you see him?’ I ask.

‘Sorry?’

‘Billy. You said you left the pub shortly after Mark … after the incident. Did you see Billy when you left?’

She gazes up at the ceiling as she tries to remember. ‘I don’t know. I couldn’t say for sure. It was very dark. I spotted a couple of people over by the bins. I was startled when I saw them. I remember walking faster but I couldn’t tell you if one of them was Billy.’

‘Were they male or female?’

She shakes her head. ‘I don’t know. As I said, it was dark. I’m sorry. Is there anything else I can—’

‘No.’ I stand up so quickly my chair tips backwards and I have to put out a hand to stop it from falling. ‘No, that’s it. Thank you so much for your time. I won’t bother you again.’

‘Mrs Wilkinson,’ she says as I reach for the door handle. ‘One more thing, before you go.’

‘Yes.’

‘I know it’s not my place to give you advice but I do think it might help if you and your husband had a convers—’

‘I don’t think that’s any of your business, do you?’

Saturday 3rd January 2015

ICE9: He saw us! I can’t believe he saw us.

Jackdaw44: It was dark. He won’t have seen our faces.

ICE9: But he stopped! I saw him stop, right by the fence. He looked straight at me.

Jackdaw44: So he’s a pervert who gets off on watching people fucking in the bushes. So what?

ICE9: You don’t get it, do you? If he recognized us my life is over!

Jackdaw44: You’re freaking out over nothing.