Josie had her own study for doing homework or painting in privacy. The palettes and brushes were washed in the kitchen sink when she finished painting for the day, but sometimes she would do small oil and acrylic sketch-paintings in her bedroom, like when she couldn't sleep, and those times she would rinse the paintbrushes out in the bathroom sink before replacing them in her room. She would also borrow an old pink cup from the bathroom cupboard to quick-rinse her brushes mid-sketch-painting.

The communication between brother and sister was reasonably good, and even if it was superb, it's doubtful that Josie and Aidan would have discussed where Josie washed her late-night painting utensils, or why Aidan didn't like sharing crockery with other people, therefore his preference of rinsing his mouth out with the old pink cup in the bathroom cupboard after he cleaned his teeth at night.

Aidan's skin developed an unnatural yellow tinge. There wasn't anything wrong with his organs, he wasn't ill or diseased or at risk of dying. At length, with his local doctor and his family, he would detail every place and restaurant he had visited over the past five years, every routine he had regarding meals and drinks and water sources and possible air pollution. Anything that went into his body, he recorded.

After Josie had moved away and Aidan stayed in the family home for another four years, his skin gradually returned to a normal colour, and he and his family concluded that Josie's close and everyday presence must somehow have been altering his body's levels of skin pigmentation. He remained in good contact with her, over the phone and by e-mail.