‘Why would you? I never talk about it, and all my former lodgers know how important it is that it remains confidential. In fact, you are the only resident who has ever been told about the arrangement. It has always been a secret. No one has ever suspected.’

‘And because Nicola never came back, she never got her twenty-five per cent?’

‘It’s all here, waiting for her. When she first arrived she earned very little, but with some support and friendship she got a better job, and then an even better one. There is just over eleven thousand pounds here, sitting waiting for her. It’s not mine, it’s hers. And I will keep it here safely until she comes back.’

‘Wait a minute. You keep eleven thousand pounds in the house in cash?’

‘More, because your rent money is here too.’ Georgia opens the tin. Inside, there are two envelopes. She lifts out the one marked ‘Nicola’. ‘I always ask for brand-new notes when I go to the bank because I think that when I hand them over it will make it feel more special.’ She opens the fat envelope and takes out the red and white notes, fanning them like a hand of cards. ‘There are one hundred and ten of these, and a bit of change. The Bank of Scotland note is my favourite, of all the hundreds. The Kessock Bridge on one side, and Sir Walter Scott on the other.’

‘Put it away! Someone might see.’

‘Who? There’s only you and me here and I have my back to the window. I’ve always done it like this. It’s what Annie intended to do with her first lodger in 1931. That was Keith. Of course, they fell in love so it didn’t quite work out the way she planned, but that was certainly her intention. All the records are here in this book right back to 1931. Every penny paid to Annie, and after 1964, to me. And every penny paid back.’

‘Why is it twenty-five per cent?’

‘It’s the number of the house, and Isobel thought of it. I saw no reason to change it. It’s fair as a rent goes; no one has ever thought it unreasonable. Even if someone is on a small wage there’s enough left after they’ve paid their rent for them to be able to save. And they all know they will be moving out after two years, so there is a target date. All of them, even the two who had babies while they were here, saved hard because they thought they were going to need the money for a place of their own when they moved out. Nicola was the only one who didn’t stick to it.’

‘And you don’t know where she is?’