Page 53 of Be More Octopus

Em leafed through the photos, amazed. They were all from their London trip.

Jack holding her hand as they crossed the road outside the cinema.

Jack and Em with their arms around one another as they walked away from the supermarket on Monday evening.

The stalker must have had a camera in his messenger bag. She carried on looking through the prints.

The next one showed both of them loading their overnight bags into Jack's car on Tuesday evening. There were several more of those. Jack had been teasing her about the amount of stuff she'd bought. They were standing very close to one another and laughing. Em had to admit they looked pretty loved up.

There was even a fuzzy photo of Em wrapped in the bath towel near the bedroom window, taken from across the road.

She didn't know what to say for a moment. 'Apart from the fact that we haven't done anything, I didn't think anyone played the adultery card now. You didn't do it to her.'

'I could have done if I hadn't been foolish enough to take her back. And it's one thing finding me in London, but how does she know I am stopping here?'

'I guess her private detective found out who owned the flat we were staying in. A quick look at the land registry records would reveal that. Isabella recognised Nancy's name and guessed you might be stopping here.'

'Then my tattooed fan took the opportunity to talk to Mary to confirm I was at the house to save himself a wasted journey up here to deliver the papers.' Jack sighed.

Em looked at the solicitor's letter printed on expensive paper with an embossed logo and hand signed with what looked like fountain pen ink. 'This must be costing Isabella a fortune.'

'She has deep pockets, or rather Daddy does. He never hid his dislike of me. He'd have much preferred her to marry some high-flying banker. I can imagine that if she went to him pleading for help to divorce me, he would be more than happy to oblige.'

'On a positive note, at least she wants to divorce you now.'

'But on her terms, with me painted as the evil, cheating, manipulative husband.' Jack was reading through the petition documents. It sounded as if Isabella had gone to town with her claims. 'I haven't responded to her pleas for forgiveness, so now she's turned nasty. At least she hasn't put your name on the divorce documents.'

'I'm surprised. She didn't exactly take to me when we met.'

'It makes things more complicated to name the co-respondent these days. I asked my solicitor when I first talked to her about divorce.'

He started putting the photos and the letter back in the envelope, but something was stopping them from sliding to the end. He looked inside and pulled out a small envelope. He turned it over. It had his first name handwritten on the front.

'What's that?' Em asked.

'I don't know, but it's Isabella's handwriting.' He roughly tore it open. A small black and white photo fell out onto the floor. He picked it up and looked at it.

He went ashen. 'Fuck!'

Em had never heard him swear before. 'What's wrong?'

'Can we leave the portrait sitting for now? I need to digest all of this.'

'Shall I put the kettle on?'

'No, thanks. I need to be on my own, please.'

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Why had the photo spooked Jack so much? Em couldn't stop thinking about it all day.

It was nearly 8 pm now, and she still hadn't seen or heard from him.

Time for a text.

Fancy a walk before it gets dark?

He was usually eager for an excuse to get some fresh air when he'd been inside all day. He responded straight away.