‘I came in here to see about redesigning it into a nursery…’ Rupert says nothing as Emily swipes at her eyes. He didn’t think they’d agreed to start a family yet. ‘And look.’ She gestures towards the wardrobes, the closets that should be standing empty. The hangers are full, crammed with silks, satin, dresses, coats and other clothes. Caro’s clothes.

Chapter Twenty-Five

So much for a fresh start. The door to the spare room is firmly shut, and I hurry past it, the urge to go in and check the wardrobe, to see Caro’s things hanging there neatly after I dropped them at the charity shop – and I did, I remember doing it – almost a compulsion.

In the kitchen, I make myself a cup of Earl Grey and pull my mobile from my pocket, scrolling down until I reach Mags’s name. I need to talk to someone, a person I can trust. A friend. Rupert won’t talk about it. I picture his face as he looked into the wardrobe last night, the way he had gone a grey, waxy colour before he made an excuse, just like he had before.

‘Are you sure you dropped these things off at the charity shop?’ he says, stumbling slightly over the words. That’s how I know that he’s shaken too.

‘Yes,’ I snap, my sharp tone belying the fact that my hands are shaking, ‘I’m not an idiot, Rupert. I dropped them off at The Children’s Trust. I thought that was the best place for them, given Caro’s connection to them.’

‘Well, that explains it then.’ Rupert visibly brightens, and my heart sinks as I realize that he’s still not going to see this the way I do. ‘If you took them there, that explains everything.’

‘How? How does it explain the way your dead wife’s clothes got back into our house?’

‘Obviously, Angus visited the shop and saw them and thought that they had been donated in error. I…’ he looks at me sheepishly, ‘I did once say that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to get rid of Caro’s things.’

‘Right.’ A pulse flickers at my temple and I have to hold in a deep breath in order to keep my temper. ‘So, say that Angus did return the clothes to the house – which, to be honest, just sounds like a complete fantasy to me – then how did the clothes end up hanging neatly back in the closet?’

‘Anya hung them up, of course. While we were away.’ Rupert looks completely satisfied with this answer. ‘She didn’t know Caro, she didn’t start working for us until after we were married, so she probably assumed they were yours and hung them all back up. She probably thought she was doing you a favour. I don’t see what part of this is a fantasy,’ he snaps.

‘Jesus, Rupert…’