I couldn’t stay on for the formal dinner so I left TMX in the hands of IKX.

This arrangement was not to T’s liking. She disapproved of the ostentatious wealth of I’s new house, especially that evident in the home gym. She was also extremely uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping in a bedroom that displayed on its wall a poster entitled ‘Best Murders’.

When I rang to check how she was, T picked up the call in the Mermaid. She had swapped the claustrophobic atmosphere of the formal dinner (where she was well-known) for the anonymity of the pub. Here she had a chance to secure new friendships with people who knew nothing of her tragic past.