I went into the kitchen, where Gwen was making tea. Mary had brought a cake and was getting out plates and cups, keeping a watchful eye on Robin, who was fast asleep in his car seat in the corner. He used to look tiny, but now, compared to Ruby, he was big, on a different scale. I was still feeling a bit awkward with Gwen, having stolen her identity and everything, but I made an effort to tell her about things, the way I always used to. That was when she erupted in disbelief, and just as she did so, Joe came through and joined us. It was like the meeting of a secret society.

“I’m just escaping from Babyland,” he said. “Not that she isn’t beautiful. She’s very sweet, isn’t she?”

We all agreed that she was.

“Obviously every parent is convinced that their own baby is the most beautiful in the world,” said Joe. “I can remember saying something of the kind when Becky was born.” He picked up a slice of cake before Mary could stop him. He took a bite as he continued talking, crumbs spilling from his mouth. “The difference is that when I said it I was right.”

“Hmm,” said Mary, and I could see she was about to launch into a Robin-is-best speech.

“To return to what we were saying,” interrupted Gwen, hastily, “Ellie has to do something to stop the police messing her about.”

“What are they up to now?” asked Joe, raising his eyebrows at me and grinning. I could tell he was trying to make me feel better about the mess I’d caused, turning it into a kind of joke that we could laugh at.

So, of course, Gwen had to explain to all and sundry about my latest encounter with the police. I was a bit ashamed to be the center of attention again. They’d had to be sympathetic to me as a widow, listen to my rants about Greg and his innocence, then deal with my activities as some kind of fraudster. And always it had been me, me, me at the center of things, with everyone else in a supporting role, their concerns pushed aside.

“You should have asked us to come with you,” said Mary. “I can’t bear to think you went on your own. It must have been grim.”

“You’d done enough already, all of you. Besides, it was something I needed to do alone.”

“What’s outrageous,” said Joe, “is that visiting the scene of your husband’s death is something they should find suspicious. Of course you had to go. It would be stranger if you hadn’t.”

“Do you think they were really suspicious?” asked Gwen. “Of what, for God’s sake?”

“I get the impression that they’re extremely irritated by me,” I said, and then cast a glance at Gwen. “As you probably are. Or, at least, you should be.”