The way his plump hand clutched at her hip seemed somehow improper; not morally, aesthetically.

With one exception everybody who has ever been involved with me is still a great friend of mine.

But mostly they were lies I told; it wasn't my fault, I couldn't remember, because it was as though I'd been to one of those supernatural castles visited by characters in legends: once away, you do not remember, all that is left is the ghostly echo of haunting wonder.

Those fellows, they're always crying over killers. Never a thought for the victims.

But I know what I like.' She smiled, and et the cat drop to the floor. 'It's like Tiffany's,'she said. 'Not that I give a hoot about jewellery. Diamonds, yes. But it's tacky to wear diamonds before you're forty; and even that's risky.

June, July, all through the warm months she hibernated like a winter animal who did not know spring had come and gone.

Leave it to me: I'm always top banana in the shock department.