'I should have known straight away, the second I spotted him in the doorway. He was dressed in his dirty blue mechanic's overalls and standing very straight. he never stood this straight. Mum was always chipping him for slouching. 'Maybe if you got off my back,' he used to joke. On this day he didn't look jokey. He looked tall and confused, like a student who had been sent to the classroom on an errand but couldn't remember what it was.' (Introduction)