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the nub of things. His acuity had taken him to the top of his profession—handling stolen cars—at the tender age of twenty-one. He came from a family of high-flying doctors, and nobody had ever doubted that he would follow suit. At first he obliged, and was a star pupil at his grammar school; a prefect and cricketing legend. Then he fell out with his father, fell in with a new crowd and rebelled spectacularly. He had a few run-ins with the police and his offending escalated until he was the mastermind of a team of car ringers. Then a tip-off landed him in Armley.
    ‘What are they like?’ Akash asked now. ‘Your in-laws?’
    ‘Zoe had ’em wrapped around her little finger—can’t blame them, I was wrapped around it too. Hannah’s a scary intellectual, lectures in physics at the university. What she doesn’t know about quantum theory isn’t worth knowing. She never liked me. We got off on the wrong foot.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Nobody could be good enough for her daughter, but I must have been her worst nightmare—a butcher’s son from Tyneside. I was young, I was nervous, I was way out of my depth, and I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. She got my hackles up.’
    Akash raised an eyebrow. ‘You were rude to her, weren’t you, Scottie?’
    ‘Mm.’ Joseph looked embarrassed at the memory. ‘It was all unspoken; she was polite on the surface. She asked me about myself, but in this pained sort of way. It brought out the worst in me. I acted a bit yobbish, talked big about a fight I’d been in. I still had a massive shiner of a black eye, so I must have looked like a low-life.’
    Akash smacked his palm across his forehead. ‘Doh!’
    ‘Freddie did his best, though.’ Joseph smiled. ‘He’d just directed some play in Leeds. It was a sell-out. Hannah and Zoe were gloating over the reviews, but old Freddie didn’t give a toss. He spent the afternoon digging away in his garden, covered in mud, waffling on about insects.’
    ‘Insects.’
    Joseph chuckled into his coffee. ‘He fixed me with his glittering eye like the ancient bloody mariner and spent ten minutes going on about how a teaspoon of soil contains millions of organisms.’
    ‘That’s true!’ exclaimed Akash delightedly. ‘Teeming with ’em.’
    ‘Well . . .’ Joseph closed the paper. ‘Unless I want to be a pole dancer, there’s nothing for me in here.’
    ‘You’re pretty enough to be a pole dancer.’ Akash’s mobile phone rang. ‘Bit of lippy, you’ll be a real pouting beauty. You do pout a lot. Hello? . . . Yes, mate. Yes, not a problem, I can sort that out . . .’
    While his friend talked, Joseph tried to consider his future and got nowhere. His mind seemed to be locked on a set of rails that inexorably led back to Zoe. Her eyes haunted him, bright with wild energy even in death. From her his thoughts led to the children; and when he was thinking about them, nothing else seemed relevant.
    Akash flipped his phone shut. ‘So what are you planning to live on?’ he asked bluntly.
    ‘I’ve got a bit of cash in the bank. I’ll be okay for a while.’
    ‘Did you own a house before you got sent away?’
    ‘Signed everything over to the in-laws, including responsibility for my children. I didn’t have any choice, nobody else volunteered. They sold the house and put the money into some kind of trust for the kids. Didn’t fetch very much.’ Joseph gave a bitter half-smile. ‘Apparently buyers were put off by what had happened in the living room.’
    ‘What about all your stuff?’
    ‘Got rid of everything. I knew I was going away for a long time.’
    ‘Mate.’ Akash looked slightly embarrassed, rubbing his nose.
    ‘Um, if you need work while you get back on your feet, I can give you some hours, no problem.’
    Joseph stood up and clapped his friend on the back. ‘Thanks. I might just take you up on that.’
    ‘Where are you off to this morning? Got a date?’
    ‘Not exactly,’ said Joseph.
    •
    Although this was a bit