“That means a lot to me,” said Pandora.

“And as for my sinking a bit of money into the meal we just had, I don’t think there’ll be an ATM in your stomach anyway,” said Lennox.

They had walked one door down from the cafe, and stood under a lamp outside the darkened window of a shop that had closed for the evening.

“I know about Bob, but I’m open to a hug,” he said.

She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. He felt her cheek against his own, and then she spoke softly.

“I’m the one trusting you now,” she said, “If you did let me down on the day, I’d miss out altogether, not just on eating the young man of my first choice, but on eating anyone at all.”

“If I couldn’t be trusted, I would have played the game until you were gone, without saying anything,” said Lennox, “Your own daughter tried to trick you for my benefit, and instead I’m tricking her for yours and mine.”

“I guess I’m in your hands ... until we get there,” she said.

“And soonafter that, I’ll be in just one of yours,” said Lennox.

She hugged him a little tighter.

“Reba lent me the car for the night, probably keen to help with any meeting that would enable you to start stringing me along,” said Pandora, “But it means I can drive you home.”

“I’d like that,” said Lennox.

She drove him all the way to his own driveway and parked in the front drive, turning off the engine and undoing her seat belt.

“I don’t really want this night to end,” she said.

“It doesn’t have to, yet. And you can stay the night if you get too tired to drive back to Mick and Reba’s,” said Lennox.

“No more secrets from you, I promise. Ask me anything,” she said.

“Well ... how did you develop this desire to eat someone?” asked Lennox.

“I was telling the whole story to Reba not long before I met you,” said Pandora.

She went on to tell him every single aspect of the story of Trudi and Murray. This time she left out nothing, and went into every nuance and every single detail of the Irish portal, the giant widow’s capture of Trudi and Murray, the many time travelling incidents, the countless times that Trudi ate Murray and then time travelled back to negate the interim events, and Trudi’s account of the night she ate Murray in the pavlova after forewarning him that it would be the last time.

“She could have let him assume she was going to bring him back again,” said Lennox.

“She’d done that every other time, because she intended to. This last time, she wanted him to know and face the fact that she had him in her power and wasn’t going to give him any get out of stomach free cards,” said Pandora.

“That’s quite a game of Mouthopoly,” said Lennox, noting her slight smile.