‘I don’t know. They argued, Caro and Rupert.’ She blinks. ‘They tried not to let it show but everyone knew what was going on – you know the kind of row, where you’re trying to keep a smile on your face as you’re hissing at each other – and then Caro stormed out. Rupert called me in the morning to see if she was at mine, which she obviously wasn’t, and said that if she wasn’t home by night-time he’d call the police. None of us were overly worried – she’d done it before. Three days later I got the call to say they’d found her car and that she was gone.’

‘Sadie, I’m so sorry.’ I reach out and lay my hand over hers. ‘I shouldn’t have asked you about it.’

Sadie looks down at the table and sniffs, before she tugs her hand away and gives me a brisk smile. ‘I’m OK. And now look, Rupert has you, and you’re going to fix the garden, and everything will be as it should be.’

I smile uncertainly, not sure if I am imagining the bite to Sadie’s words, and then Lola strolls into the room.

‘Oh! Rupert said he was getting you a special present for Christmas!’ Sadie leans down and rubs a hand over Lola’s back, before tucking the trousers of her silk jumpsuit out of the way so Lola can’t brush against her and leave cat hairs. ‘Isn’t he lovely?’

‘She. She’d be even lovelier if she hadn’t left me a dead bird on the doorstep.’ I wrinkle my nose and Sadie laughs, and by the time she gets up to leave I have convinced myself that she didn’t mean anything by her earlier comment. It’s just how she is, I think, but as I close the door behind her all I can see in my mind’s eye is Caro, dressed up to the nines in an expensive gown, excited to show off her new orangery, and then later, Rupert’s face when he realized she was never coming home.

Hours later, the light outside is dimming, and I stretch from where I have been curled into the corner of the sofa, Rupert’s spare laptop on my knees. He gave it to me after we were married, seeing as I didn’t have one, and I don’t think he realized just how much stuff he’s left on there, which is simple enough for the wrong person to access if they wanted.