‘Oh, it wasn’t hard. They were all so nice to me: making me drinks, inviting me into their homes. I’d met them all at one time or another, at Rudolphy’s, so I just did the old, “Remember me? Here I am with free books!” routine. I pretended I’d opened a new shop. I didn’t want to kill them, any of them. I wish I hadn’t had to. They’re not suffering any more from what I did, at least. I am. That’s my punishment.’

‘How did you know all their addresses, and when they’d be at home?’

‘The addresses? Linzi, Marion and Josh had all had books delivered from Rudolphy’s over the years, both to themselves and to their friends: Linzi to Rhian, Josh to Angela – so I had all the addresses apart from Kim’s – which, as it turned out, I never needed. And I didn’t know when they’d all be at home. I tried several times with a couple of them, waited till I found them in. There were a few failed visits, but we got there eventually!’ Isobel smiles brightly, as if delivering a happy ending.

‘Why did you give Rudolphy’s as your alibi?’ Simon asked her. ‘You must have known we’d find out soon enough that it had been closed for over a year.’

‘I don’t know.’ Isobel looked down at her lap. ‘I suppose I wanted to be able to say that I worked there – wanted to hear myself saying it. I was proud to work there … here.’ She looked around at the Indian restaurant. ‘It was a wonderful place. The best. Now I work in a service station. There’s no point working with books any more – I don’t want to stick around to watch them become extinct. Better to work somewhere shitty now that everything’s ruined. Sorry for swearing. I need to ask …’

‘What?’

‘I’ll be able to read books in prison, won’t I? And write? I can write a memoir, maybe.’

‘Yes. Books are allowed,’ Simon told her. There was a heavy feeling in his gut. He didn’t want to feel sorry for Isobel Sturridge. Why did he? Throwing away his copy of Moby Dick had been the hardest thing he’d ever done – his attempt to prove to himself that he was nothing like her.

‘Lane will visit me in prison if you ask her to. Will you ask her? I really need her now.’

Simon nodded.