Afterwards, I asked him why he’d walked off like that. He fell quiet and said that he thought he’d seen an uninvited guest show up at the party earlier. This guy apparently looked familiar in some weird way and Robert wanted to find him. After searching everywhere he suddenly spotted him at the far end of the beach.

Jake sits up in his chair.

And when he caught up with him, Robert got the shock of his life. The man wasn’t just familiar, he looked identical to him. And I mean identical.

45

Silas

Silas glances across at Stonehenge, glowing in the last rays of the evening sun. There could be worse places on the A303 to queue. He was going to take the M5 and M4 to Swindon, but he wants to drop in on Jake, ask him a bit more about his narrowboat insurance. The fire might be an unfortunate coincidence, but the timing still troubles him.

Strover, sitting beside him, has just taken a call about the number plate that Kate gave them. It still annoys him that Strover offered to run a check on the car in Cornwall without consulting him first, but she’s right, they need Kate onside. According to Strover, the registered keeper of the Tesla is not Rob. It belongs to someone called Gilmour Martin at a ‘care of’ address in London N1. ‘Care of’ addresses are used by the DVLA when the owner of a car is abroad or of no fixed abode. It can be a friend’s house or family member’s. At least, that’s the theory. Criminals try to abuse them too.

‘Who’s Gilmour Martin?’ Strover asks.

‘He’s not Rob, that’s all we need to know,’ Silas snaps. ‘All Kate needs to know. She can rest easy – her man’s not giving her the runaround. Marriage guidance over. We move on.’

He’s being irritable, unreasonable. Scratchy, as his Mel used to call it. Has been ever since Conor disappeared. They inch forward in stony silence, two queues of traffic slowly merging into one. And then Strover takes another call. Her digital investigator friend has found a total of seven people whose details match Rob’s facial metrics. No names yet, just images. More details to follow shortly. He’s not sure if Kate will be reassured or horrified.

‘Strange thought, isn’t it?’ Silas says, tapping the steering wheel.

‘What is?’

‘All these other versions of ourselves out there somewhere.’

Seven people who look like his ex. There’s a thought.

‘A bit like Earth,’ Silas continues, warming to his whimsical theme. ‘Must be other planets in the universe just like ours.’

‘There’s something you need to know,’ Strover says, in a tone he’s come to recognise. A sure sign that she’s about to fess up to something.