‘You’re in my home.’ He grins, and I move out of the way so he can make himself comfortable in the corner. I hand him a couple of my cigarettes and he presses one to his lips so I light it for him. ‘Did you catch up with that geezer in the end?’ he asks, after he’s taken a few drags.

‘What geezer?’

‘The bloke who came looking for you last week.’

‘A bloke was looking for me last week?’ This is the first I’ve heard of it.

‘Yeah, tallish fella.’

I think of Flora and my suspicions that it had been she who was following me. ‘Could it have been a woman?’

He shakes his head and picks what I hope is a bit of ash out of his beard. ‘Nah. Definitely a bloke.’

I think of Wayne Walker. ‘What did he look like?’

‘Stocky. Quite handsome.’

That doesn’t sound like Wayne. Unless it was Adam. ‘Did he have dark hair and a beard?’

‘Nah. He was blond.’

I frown, trying to think. Was it Norman? ‘Was he quite old?’

‘He was young. Well, about your age, I reckon.’

‘What did he want?’

He pulls the blanket firmly around his shoulders. ‘Wanted to know your movements. What time you left, that kind of thing. He looked official, actually. I thought he was a policeman.’

A policeman? Why were the police looking for me? ‘Did he … did he say anything else?’

‘Nah. He stalked off when I wouldn’t tell him anything.’

I smile at him, overwhelmed by fondness for this man whom I’ve talked to every day for the last nine months but don’t really know. ‘Thank you.’

He grins. ‘Any time.’

‘So, what’s the big secret?’ I ask Jack, as we sit at a table in the café near the top of Park Street.

He fiddles with his paper napkin. ‘I’m leaving.’

I stare at him, speechless, the glass of elderflower cordial nearly slipping out of my hand. ‘But – but why?’

‘I’m going back to Brighton. Got a job on the Argus. I miss my home town, Jess. I’m sorry. And, also, it’s as a reporter.’

A reporter? I knew it. Has he been tipping off Harriet Hill? Would he do that? Undermine me? No. I can’t believe he would.

‘I’ve been earning extra cash selling contact details to the nationals,’ he adds, his cheeks flushed. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Jess.’

I shrug. ‘There’s no law against it.’

‘I thought it could be a way in, that’s all.’

‘But what about Finn? Will he move to Brighton with you?’

‘We’re over.’

Again, I’m reeling. ‘What? When?’

‘I’m sorry I haven’t been myself for the last few weeks. Finn, well, he turned out to be a knob.’ He smiles sadly.

I’ve always thought so but I’ve never admitted that to Jack. ‘In what way?’