‘I can’t promise you that. If you are in danger, I have to say something.’

‘It’s nothing like that.’

‘Go on then, spill the beans.’ He leaned back in his chair and looked around the café, waiting for her to divulge her important secret. ‘What is it?’

Ann whispered, ‘I think Isobel might be stealing things.’

He leaned forward. ‘What?’

‘Something is missing.’ She looked down into the empty glass, unwilling to meet his eyes. ‘It was when I was feeling poorly a couple of weeks ago. There was no one in the house and I thought she must be up in her room. I wasn’t feeling well so I went straight upstairs to my bedroom, and there she was.’

‘Doing what?’

‘She had my jewellery box open on the bed and she was going through all the necklaces and rings.’

‘Mother’s things?’

‘Yes. I’m never going to wear them, though, because she was a horrible person. I only keep the box to make Father happy. I don’t even really know what’s in it.’

‘You’ve never done an inventory?’

She frowned. ‘A what?’

‘It’s a fancy name for a list.’

‘No, I’ve never done one of those.’

‘So you don’t know for sure if there is anything missing?’

‘Not from that box.’ She hesitated. ‘But my little steel necklace, the one Grandma gave me when I was born? Well, that’s gone.’

‘You are quite, quite sure? This is a serious thing, Ann, saying someone is a thief.’

‘The tin is not in the drawer where I keep it.’

‘We need to go home,’ he said. ‘We must tell Father immediately.’

‘It’s Isobel’s afternoon off. She told me she was going to sit in Princes Street Gardens and listen to the band that plays there. She was looking forward to it.’ Her voice had an air of desperation. ‘Do we have to say? I don’t want to get her into trouble.’

‘Neither do I, but we have to speak to them before she comes back. It’s not the sort of thing you keep a secret. It really isn’t.’

Ann could feel a mood descending on her. ‘If you are absolutely sure,’ she said eventually.

‘I am. And there’s no time to waste. It’s after two o’clock and she will be back at six.’ He pulled his new wallet out of his pocket. ‘This is why you should always have an emergency fund. Remember that, Annie Bee, it’s very important.’

Chapter 26

July 1911

‘Ann thinks that Isobel is a thief.’