Tuesday, 2 July

During a new recording session, Alix asks what Walter does now that Walter is retired. Josie says Walter mostly stays home, reads the news online, watches sport, and emails family, especially Walter’s two adult sons in Canada.

Alix follows up and learns that Walter has not seen his sons since they were ten and twelve, after Walter’s former wife emigrated with them. Josie explains that Walter’s ex-wife would not let Walter near them because she was angry about what happened with Josie.

This leads Alix to press gently on a new and troubling detail: Walter was married when Walter first met Josie. Josie admits this, insists Walter did not tell her, and says Josie only discovered the truth when Josie was eighteen. Walter had kept a London flat while Walter’s wife and sons lived outside London, allowing Walter to hide the marriage from Josie for years.

After the session, rain is falling, and Alix drives Josie home. Instead of leaving immediately, Alix watches Josie go inside the shabby Victorian house Josie had described. Alix sees Walter at the window, looking far older than the man Josie has described from the past, and briefly imagines Erin somewhere inside the house.

Back at home, Alix searches the address and the Fair family names online. Nothing useful appears, confirming Alix’s sense that the Fairs remain largely anonymous and unreachable through ordinary internet traces.