On a damp Friday morning, Martha arrived at an empty restaurant site in Folkestone that was being converted into a Turkish barbecue. Distracted by guilt over leaving Milly to run her shop, she nonetheless pressed on to confirm her suspicions about Al’s recent movements. She entered the building and asked the site manager if he knew Alistair Grey, showing his photo. He denied any connection, saying Al was not involved with the project.

Relieved to have ruled out the restaurant as Al’s destination, Martha returned to her car and navigated to a nearby large white seaside house she had previously flagged. She drove up a winding cliff road and found the property quiet and seemingly unoccupied. After ringing the bell with no answer, she looked through windows and noted a stylish, lived-in kitchen and a farmhouse table strewn with personal items suggesting a woman’s presence.

Moving to another window, Martha observed a double reception room with curated decor and family photographs. One image showed a dark-haired woman with two teenagers and a man with fair hair, a band T-shirt, and a forearm tattoo. Martha recognized the man as Paddy Swann, the restaurateur who had once greeted her and Al during a dinner in Whitstable and whose restaurant receipt she had found in Al’s pocket.

Recalling news reports she had read after finding that receipt, Martha connected the house to Paddy Swann, who had died after being pushed under a tube train in Leicester Square about fifteen months prior. She inferred that the house now belonged to Paddy’s widow, named Nina, from the press coverage.

With these details aligning, Martha concluded that Al was having an affair with Nina Swann and had been staying at the house. She pictured him inhabiting this affluent, ocean-view life while erasing Martha, their daughter Nala, and her sons Jonah and Troy from his narrative. The realization crystallized Martha’s belief that Al sought exactly this: a wealthy partner, a seaside setting, and a new life apart from his family.