However, after they had lived in this way for some time, Mrs Leeson, to her own surprise and that of everybody else, found herself in the family way, and was brought to bed of as lovely a little boy as eyes ever looked upon.

A bed slat leaning against the wall, and in one corner a woman’s high button shoe, curled up at the toe and broken over the instep.

She was twining her fingers together.

Behind him was gang-turf graffiti, elaborately spray-painted, transforming the wall into a billboard. One with a very clear message. The graffiti was pristine. That it had not been overtagged was a bold proclamation that the wall stood within undisputed territory.