Dead Famous

DAY FORTY-TWO. 7.00 a.m.

Mrs Copple was awoken by the ringing of the telephone. Almost at the same time her doorbell began to sound. By seven thirty there were forty reporters in her front garden and her life was ruined.

“sally’s the one. just ask her mum” was the most pithy of the headlines.

“The press always find out everything,” Coleridge said sadly when Trisha told him what had happened. “They’re much better than us. Nothing can ever be kept from them. They don’t always publish, but they always know. They’re prepared to pay, you see, and if you’re prepared to pay for information, somebody will always be found to give it to you in the end.”