‘Maybe she twigged that you’re not a colleague,’ Jacob said. ‘That was quick thinking, by the way.’

‘Thanks.’

‘You would’ve been a good academic.’

‘I don’t know about that.’

‘You’re obviously very bright.’

‘But not academic.’

Dorothy got up and went over to the paintings on the wall. Strong slashes of thick paint, primary colours. Ovals and ellipses scattered about the canvas. ‘These are great.’

‘I miss her every day,’ Jacob said. ‘She wasn’t academic either, but so much brighter than me. She would’ve known what to do.’

Dorothy looked at the bookshelf. Ran a finger along the top of it. No dust.

‘Has the cleaner been recently?’

‘This morning.’

‘Tell me about her, where did you find her?’

Jacob frowned as he turned. ‘It’s not Monika.’

Dorothy stared at him. ‘You don’t know that.’

‘We’ve had women from the same company for years,’ Jacob said, hands trembling in his lap. ‘Very reliable. Kristina organised it originally, that’s how long ago it was. They’re Ukrainian, that’s why she went to them, she wanted to help others from her homeland.’202

‘What’s the company name?’

‘Home Angels. But it’s not Monika, I’m telling you.’

Dorothy walked back to the table and stood. ‘We have to explore every possibility, that’s all. I wouldn’t be doing my job otherwise.’

‘Fine.’

‘Do you know Monika’s surname?’

Jacob shook his head.

‘I can find out,’ Dorothy said. ‘When exactly was she here?’

‘Ten o’clock this morning.’

‘Until?’

‘Half past twelve.’

Dorothy scooped up the SD cards. ‘But nothing else has gone missing?’

‘Not that I’ve noticed.’

‘OK, I’d better go.’

Jacob started the slow process of standing up.

‘There’s no need to see me out,’ Dorothy said, touching his arm.

‘I’m not quite dead yet,’ he said, shuffling forwards on his walker.

As they went along the hall, Dorothy looked into the living room and spotted something. ‘Is that an iPad?’

Jacob stopped. ‘Yes.’

‘The one that went missing?’

‘It turned up in my bedroom.’

She gave him a look.

‘I’m not senile,’ Jacob said. ‘It wasn’t there before, I would’ve noticed. And I never use it upstairs, so I can’t have misplaced it up there.’

He was almost on the verge of tears. Dorothy touched his arm again, it was meant to be reassuring, but she didn’t get the feeling it was.

‘I’ll check the footage,’ Dorothy said. ‘And let you know.’

She left the house and walked away, thinking about families and loyalty, and about being so old that you were disappointed when you woke up every morning.203