Page 107 of Murder in the Family

And of course, it made her doubly concerned about Maura – she didn’t want her making the same mistakes.

LAILA FURNESS – off

One last question. What would you say if I told you that we’ve uncovered evidence that Luke wasn’t who he said he was.

That he was, in fact, an American of 37, not an Australian of 26.

Shirley looks staggered and then starts laughing.

LAILA FURNESS – off

What’s so funny? It’s a serious matter, surely.

SHIRLEY BOOKER

Of course it is. It’s just that I said pretty much exactly that to Caroline myself.

My son was just getting into surfing back then – we have a place in Cornwall – andhesaid it was clear as day from what I’d told him that Luke didn’t know the first thing about it.

And on top of that his Aussie accent wasexecrable.I told Caroline she should check his passport. I mean, it was ajoke, of course, but after all these years you’re now telling me—

LAILA FURNESS – off

When was this – when did you have that conversation?

SHIRLEY BOOKER

It must have been a few weeks after the wedding. I only met him for the first time at the ceremony—

LAILA FURNESS – off

And how did she react when you said that? I mean, she’d already married him by then—

SHIRLEY BOOKER

She laughed. Said she’d seen his passport, thank you very much, when they went on honeymoon, and in any case she didn’t care. She didn’t give a fig where he came from or who he was. It didn’t matter.

LAILA FURNESS – off

So if she’d found out he actuallywasan imposter, it wouldn’t have particularly upset her?

SHIRLEY BOOKER

(raises an eyebrow)

If what you’re really getting at is whether she’d have been affronted enough tokillhim, then no. Absolutely not.

I’m sorry, Dr Furness, but I’m afraid you’ll need to find another tree to bark up on that one.

CUT TO: Studio.

LAILA FURNESS

So as you can see, my week ended up being rather a case of two steps forward, three steps back.

On the positive side there definitelywasa mystery man, even if we still don’t know his name.

But on the other hand, it looks like Caroline would have been supremelyunbothered to discover that her husband wasn’t quite who he said he was.