He was a small guy, shaven-headed, with a calm demeanour that would be reassuring for people who were going to let him put pins in them. You wouldn’t want me to put pins in you, I’m sure you’ve already come to that conclusion. When Ben shook my hand his black T-shirt and baggy trousers made me think of martial arts pyjamas.

‘It’s nice to meet you,’ I said.

‘You too.’

‘Thank you for helping Amy decorate.’

He watched me warily as I held his hand.

‘Is there another roller?’ I said. ‘Do you want a hand?’

Amy had only got into the place yesterday and it was a mess, with peeling wallpaper in the process of being ripped down, and stained carpets being ripped up. Amy was not interested in buying places which she could not immediately improve the value of through sudden intervention. An old woman had been living in it with her dog for years. The garden was full of vicious brambles and burst bin bags. The ceilings were the colour of the inside of a teapot. All easy to solve with a bit of hard work, so she said. There was a skip outside and I set about pulling up the carpets in the bedrooms.

As we worked Amy explained to me about testing the market, about making low offers for houses you weren’t sure you wanted to move into.

‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ I said.

Amy stared at me.

‘We’ll discuss things after I’ve seen the places,’ I said. I was going to jump on my bike and look round some flats that afternoon.

Her bump had really grown in the last few weeks.

‘I’m not sure you should be doing this,’ I said, after we had got the last of the carpet up. ‘Can’t you get some help?’

‘You and Ben are helping.’

‘Paid help.’

‘I don’t have the money.’

I bet she had the money. It was her thinking that she didn’t have the money that meant she did have the money and it was me thinking I had the money that meant I didn’t have the money. It was unlikely we’d ever reconcile our different valuations of the rewards of being prudent.

‘We’ll get through it in no time,’ she said.

She was lying. It was going to take some time. Still, I had time, for now. After we’d finished painting the living room and stripped some more wallpaper from the hallway I got on my bike and set off to Downhill for the first of the viewings.

*