Ella bought them from the health store. Greyish green, they smelt a little fishy. The blurb on the Marina packet promised lush, new hair growth within seven days. She took them home. Hid the pills behind a tub of vitamin C tablets and hoped she could cure her husband’s problem.

Steve, rapidly balding at the age of forty three, had claimed to Ella on several occasions that he wanted to shave the lot off. Ella, hating the idea, and longing to run her fingers through his once thick, dark hair, had protested with angry vehemence.

Steve wasn’t a pill taker so these new pills had to be given to him with discreet care. The opportunity arose when her husband caught a cold and complained that he could neither taste or smell her wonderful casseroles, sauces, and his favourite, Madras Curry.

Every evening, she trebled the recommended dose and after crushing the Marina Pills, sprinkled them over his meal but despite the effects of his cold, Steve complained of a strange fishy flavour.

‘It’s your cold,’ Ella told him.

Within days, Ella noticed that Steve’s hair had indeed grown thicker but had taken on a silvery sheen. Steve moaned that his skin was flaking, and to avoid disturbing her, slept in the guest room for a few nights due to the awful itching.

A week into the treatment on a hot, humid night, Ella woke to the sound of splashing. Getting out of bed, looking down into their designer garden, she saw someone swimming in their pool.

She went into the guest room to tell Steve that they had an intruder only to find her husband gone.

Going downstairs and out into the garden, she called out, ‘Steve! What on earth are you doing at this hour?’

As she chided him, she was amazed to see her husband swimming up and down with the strength and speed of an Olympic champion.

When she stepped to the edge of the pool, a massive head rose up in a torrent of water in front of her. Ella let out a single ear splitting scream.

Suddenly, all the neighbours lights went on. Heads poked out of bedroom windows, calling to one and other, 'Did you hear that?'

While down at the deep end of the swimming pool, Steve spat out Ella's unpalatable slippers and dressing gown.