She was right. Lassoo had no pace about him and a definite lack of verve. He had the odd sniff here and there but I sensed he would be glad when the walk was over. He even yawned a few times, which I thought unusual for a dog on the move in the outdoors. When we got to the play area, however, his demeanour changed. He let out a couple of barks and strained on the lead, begging to let go. I let him off the leash and he ran straight to the patch where the notorious see-saw had been and had a dump. I didn’t have any poop bags and could see an old bloke staring at me through one of the ground-floor windows. Out of fear for my local reputation I approached the dump site, turned my back on the watching pensioner and mimed the process of unfurling a bag, scooping up the dirt and placing it in my pocket. Reputation hopefully intact, we carried on to the shops.

On our return, Grace was still sat outside her door. She had placed a tiny circular-topped metal table and a wooden stool next to her. She was making a fuss of looking at her watch.

‘Thirteen minutes,’ she said by way of greeting. ‘And you said no more than ten. Seems you might be the unreliable type.’

‘Sorry about that. The dog held me up a bit.’

‘Yeah, he’s a right slouch. Got no oomph left whatsoever.’

‘He was quite energetic when we got to the play area.’

‘Yeah, he always gets a rush on when he needs a dump. I sometimes think it’s his only pleasure in life. I’m a bit the same. Are you going to join me, then, to eat these pies?’

As a general rule, I like to eat pie on my own. No distractions. No etiquette. Just me and my pie, in perfect harmony. However, the look in Grace’s eyes suggested she really wanted my company. Despite her crabby demeanour, she seemed a bit lonely and vulnerable. She also seemed like the sort of person I could easily get to like me – you know, just as an end in itself. She also fascinated me.

‘Yeah, I would love to, that’s very kind. Would you like me to heat them up?’ I asked.

‘Not for me, thanks. I find that warmth can bring out the taste of death that you often get from a cheap pie and I can see you’ve gone budget with your selection.’