Ann sighed dramatically. ‘He’s not as tall as Finlay. He has brown hair, and it’s going a little grey at the sides.’ She looked out of the window at the drizzle. ‘I suppose Finlay’s hair would be like that now, if he were here.’

‘Go on.’

‘Mr Anderson is quite thin. His clothes seem to be too big for him. He has a soft voice. Doesn’t say a lot. Has this knack of getting me to talk but doesn’t really ask questions.’ She paused. ‘I’m not sure how he does that.’

‘And he knows that you don’t live here alone?’

Ann folded her arms defiantly. ‘I mentioned you several times.’

‘Good. There are plenty of odd folk around at the moment. People who are desperate. You think I’m joking, but we need to be careful.’ She looked through to the scullery.

‘No,’ said Ann.

‘I really think—’

‘No. The scullery door stays unlocked.’

‘Will you at least be more mindful about locking the kitchen door then? For me?’ She pointed at the staircase. ‘I sleep up there, remember. I could be murdered in my bed.’

‘You could lock your door, if you wish? But I suppose you’re right. I’ll put some oil into the kitchen door lock this afternoon. It’s rather stiff.’

‘The census is quite soon, isn’t it?’

‘It’s on the twenty-sixth, so I suppose we should have a look and see what the Government wants to know about us this time.’

Chapter 36

End of April 1931

‘I saw Keith today.’ Isobel was standing at the scullery sink and washing the dishes. She always claimed to be better at it than Ann.

‘Oh really? You didn’t say you’d gone out.’

‘I wasn’t out.’ Isobel finished washing a sherry glass and set it down carefully on the drainer. ‘He came here.’

Ann lifted the glass by the stem, and rolled it between thumb and forefinger, holding it up to the evening sunlight to check for smears. ‘Oh?’

‘I saw him outside in the street, looking up at the windows when I was scrubbing the front step. He was just as you described.’

‘And you asked him in?’

‘I did.’ She glanced at Ann. ‘He was collecting the census form, so I handed it over. And I asked him if he wanted a sandwich.’

‘I’m surprised.’

‘But you invited him in yourself, more than once, you told me so. And I thought that a man with so little money in his pocket would appreciate a kindness.’

‘I suppose I did.’ This was one of those moments, Ann thought, where there was a changing of the guard, where the old rules didn’t apply any longer and must be abandoned. ‘But of course, this is your home too, Isobel, so why shouldn’t you have a guest for lunch?’

‘Wait a minute . . . Ann Black, you are not jealous?’