He hesitated. “ Do you think that we can persuade Terry to talk to us again?”

There was an edge of desperation in his voice.

“He might talk to someone he trusts,” Molly said.

“There’s Mrs. Black, his landlady. He might be prepared to talk to her.”

“We must find out what he knows. He’s in danger himself. The murderer might have seen him.”

“Make a note to speak to Mrs. Black.” She spoke softly, but it was enough to stem the rising anxiety. She continued quickly:

“Which of those people had any reason to kill Tom French?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. At first I thought that there could be no convincing motive. I didn’t know him very well, but he came across as being the last person in the world to be a murder victim. He was gentle, very softly spoken—as Rob said, he seemed to be a hippie out of his time. Now, almost too many people seem to have disliked him or to have been afraid of him. That just doesn’t make sense. It’s not in keeping with the man I knew. And does dislike provide an adequate motive for murder? Bernard Cranshaw disliked him because Tom usurped his position as local expert. Sally was afraid of him because he threatened to have her baby taken into care. The fact that Dennis put pressure on Terry not to talk to us indicates that he may have some motive. Rob Earl saw him as a rival for the job in Bristol. And Adam and Pete Littleton are involved because they both knew him, and because they were both there. And because somehow I sense that they’re involved.

“At the moment the conviction for possession of cannabis seems to be the only factor which links them all together. I’m certain that Dennis uses drugs. It seems that he and Tom used to drink together, but I find it hard to believe that they were particularly friendly. Sally knows more about Tom’s court appearance than she’s told us. Adam wanted to make sure that I knew that Tom had been in court and Cranshaw used it in his fight to stop Tom taking the children on to the marsh.”

He was talking very quickly, it seemed almost at random, but he was talking with enthusiasm and interest. The sense of panic and helplessness had passed. With a sudden burst of energy George stood up and made a token attempt to tidy the plates for washing up—his ritual rebuke to Molly.

She did not respond with anger or sarcasm as she usually did. She caught his eye and smiled, relieved. Now that the crisis had passed, she relaxed and allowed her thoughts to return to Adam Anderson. She would try to find an opportunity to speak to him again. She was quite confident that she could persuade him to confide in her.

Chapter Eight

The next day Adam Anderson disappeared. He was in his room all night, because when his father knocked on his door to say goodbye at eight in the morning his son replied. Clive Anderson presumed that he was still in bed. But when Mrs. Pargeter came out of the kitchen at eight thirty to pick up the mail, she noticed that the front door was not properly closed. She had not heard Adam come down the stairs, and it did not occur to her then that he had left the house. Perhaps the door was not tightly shut because Adam had been afraid that it would make a noise and that then the housekeeper would come out and ask where he was going. When Mrs. Pargeter went to make the beds and realized that Adam was not in, she was not worried. Adam was sometimes away for days, for weeks at a time without letting anyone know. She was not paid to concern herself with her employer’s son’s manners. As usual the bed was already made and the room was tidy.