"The person in the seat next to mine was a fat man reeking of expensive perfume. He sported a wispy moustache and a straggling goatee. He looked at me...with his piggish eyes. He had a round face and an oily complexion. I could see that he was irked by my jeans, khaki shirt and the Nike Trainers on my feet. These were the clothes I had bought in Madras and I hadn't bothered to buy new clothes. I suppose five years in the altogether in the company of Odali had made me less than fashion conscious.. Sheila was gone for the better part of the day and wouldn't be homeuntil late afternoon. He developed his plan. The first thing he did was to go into the garage and use a nipperto remove the chastity belt. He cut it into very small pieces. Thenhe changed into his dress with the shortest skirt. Then he put ona pair of black flats that were the most comfortable shoes he had. He grabbed the vibrator and got the remote from Sheila'snightstand. Then he took a drive to Julie's house. "Hello Julie.. I usually make lunch my main meal as it gets dark early and quite cool after sundown. The evenings are usually a pot of soup, toast and coffee before bed. As I have a very good sleeping bag, I sleep naked as I do at home. It can also be unzipped to make a blanket if preferred in the summer months. I was woken by voices, female voices and obviously two of them. I was somewhat confused and perplexed. How did they get here? It was obvious they were in the river and there was no vehicle in sight. . But in any event, I told you about Marci’s history so that you would be able to understand her and our working relationship a little better on the day in question, a few years later, when I’d shown up that morning with coffee, Danish pastry, and Alli’s portrait, my birthday gift, under my arm. After taking the two scalding cups of coffee from me and digging her Danish out of the bag – and after I’d watched her suck the sticky icing off her fingers following that exercise – she trailed me into.