“Is that it, then?” Maggie asks when they have finished. “No hidden premium bonds or treasure maps lurking anywhere?” Heron walks the few steps across the kitchen to the small corkboard beside the back door. He lifts up a menu for a Chinese takeaway, and from behind it, unpins a letter on hospital-headed paper. Maggie reads it, once, twice. Dear Mr. Barnes… Next appointment… Oncology. Maggie reads the letter and understands that her father will die. This is it then; this is the next thing. Not a shock exactly, but a confirmation.
