‘Hello?’ the woman said, as if she perhaps ought to recognise Grace but didn’t. She smiled as she spoke, though, and her whole face lit up. Grace liked her immediately.

‘Good morning,’ replied Grace, and then she stopped. What should she say? She should have thought this through before she got out of the car.

‘You may think this a little odd,’ she began, making eye contact with the woman in what she hoped was a trustworthy way. ‘But I think we may be sisters-in-law.’

‘How do you mean, like?’ asked the woman, her strong Newcastle accent taking Grace by surprise for a moment. No one spoke like that in Grace’s world.

‘Well,’ said Grace. ‘I believe that your . . .’ She hesitated. ‘Your boyfriend? Husband?’

‘Husband,’ clarified the woman proudly.

‘Ah, good. Husband,’ Grace continued, ‘is my husband’s brother. Well, half-brother at least.’

A crease appeared between the woman’s eyebrows as she processed what Grace had said.

‘But my Ray doesn’t have a brother,’ she said.

‘Ray! Yes!’ said Grace, leaping on the name. ‘That’s right. Charles, that’s my husband, Charles told me that he had a half-brother whose name is Ray. I don’t think they saw much of each other growing up. They had different mothers, you see. Same fathers, though, or so I understand. Anyway, Charles told me that Ray lived here and so . . .’

Grace trailed off. And so what? What was she doing here other than spying on Ray? The woman looked at her expectantly. She seemed curious as to how the sentence might finish rather than irritated by the intrusion, and Grace felt her confidence blossom a little.

‘So, I thought, as I was passing, that I’d call by and introduce myself. I’m Grace, by the way. Grace Montgomery Smith.’

Grace held out a gloved hand. The woman looked at it. Now she seemed more unsure, although Grace wasn’t clear whether this uncertainty was to do with the hand-shaking or the revelation of a new sister-in-law.

‘My Ray never mentioned a brother, like,’ the woman said, her grey eyes narrowing. ‘How do I know you’re not some chancer on the make?’

This seemed ironic, Grace thought, given Ray’s criminal background.

‘I’m not,’ Grace said, opening her eyes wide in an attempt to make herself look as honest as possible. ‘I can assure you. I really am married to Ray’s brother Charles.’ She beamed at the woman, who would think she was demented if she wasn’t careful.

‘What did you say your name was?’ asked Ray’s wife.

‘Grace Montgomery Smith?’ replied Grace, although it sounded as if she wasn’t quite sure, which probably didn’t help establish her credibility. Her hand was still extended and she was starting to feel foolish, but then the other woman rolled her eyes and grinned at her.