My mother-in-law pulled the sodden scrap of paper out of the stream, glanced at it, and quietly passed it to her husband.

‘That explains a lot. Now, at last, we know for certain what X has been up to!’ he exclaimed.

At first they refused to share this information with me. Eventually agreed to do so, but only after establishing that I did not know the parties involved.

In neat blue biro I read a man’s name, a phone number, an address, and train times to London. This all added up to evidence that X was embroiled in a secret love affair.