But the main thing was that she adored Jez, and Abs was over the moon for his mate. Even as kids, Abs and Jez had been like chalk and cheese – Jez was as quiet and unassuming as Abs was loud and cheeky – but maybe they hit it off because they both had shitty mums. And despite growing up in care together, they had both in their own ways made something of themselves. Jez had definitely fallen on his feet hooking up with Bethany.

Abs, who never left the house without spending hours deciding what he was going to wear, envied his mate’s low-key style. Jez had always been a good-looking fella with his diamond-shaped face, self-effacing smile and neat, dark hair, but this morning he looked a proper man about the house, too, in his slim fit Ted Baker trousers and black Reiss V-neck which accentuated his compact body, suede loafers and claret red socks. It was high street stuff, sure, but good quality.

‘How you doing, Beth?’ Abs said, and she pointed a cheek in his direction for him to kiss, careful to keep the rest of her body as far from him as possible. Bethany tolerated Abs because he was Jez’s lifelong friend, but her icy smile suggested she definitely didn’t care for Tony, with his scruffy double-denim and careworn face. Like Abs, he was also tainted by the mysterious events in Wales. Bethany blamed them both for Jez getting questioned by the police after the disappearance of that girl.

‘It’s good to see you again, Tony,’ she said in a voice that suggested the complete opposite.

‘You too, Bethany.’ Eyes lowered as if in the presence of royalty, he shoved the wilting geraniums at her. ‘These are for you.’

Bethany accepted them with the grace of someone who had just been gifted potato peelings. ‘I’m sure we can find somewhere to put these.’

She looked at Abs and Tony closely, like she was wondering for the first time what they were doing in her home.

‘We’re just catching up on old times,’ said Jez quickly. ‘They won’t be staying long.’

‘Pauline’s going to be cleaning in the main room, so please take your friends into the library.’

‘Will do,’ said Jez, and Bethany walked briskly away towards the back of the house.

Abs raised an eyebrow. ‘Pauline?’

‘We’ve got a live-in housekeeper now, because Bethany insisted,’ said Jez, embarrassed. ‘She said there’s no point in owning a three-million-pound house and getting down on our knees like skivvies to clean it ourselves.’

Tony’s eyes bulged at the price tag of the house.

‘In here.’ Jez opened the door to a small room, which was absolutely stuffed with furniture. Two big leather sofas faced each other. Cabinets were covered with bulky knick-knacks like lamps and candelabras, and an antique globe of the world squatted in one corner.

One wall was filled with a large fireplace and the other three by bookcases full of very grand-looking leather books. Abs read some of the titles. Wuthering Heights, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Pride and Prejudice. He’d never heard of any of them, and he was willing to bet that none of them had been opened.