Blackie was reading a book on engineering, this time about Brunel. But he couldn’t concentrate. He felt confused by the situation with Angela, naïve almost. Had he misunderstood her interest? She was a widow with a nice house, perhaps she had never intended to see him again. He couldn’t deny it stung. He had not been able to put her out of his mind. Should he write her a note? Or perhaps walk up to her house by the moors, speak to her if she was at home again? If the truth be known, maybe she had not been in at her aunt’s house in Harrogate because of a sudden emergency, something he knew nothing about. He shouldn’t blame her or make assumptions. Anyway, she might have just lost track of the time.

Sudden knocking on the front door startled the two of them. It was Patrick who rose at once.

When he opened the front door, he found himself staring at Sarah Clough. ‘Good evening, Sarah,’ he said with a wide smile.

She didn’t smile back, but said curtly, ‘Is Blackie here?’

‘Well, yes, he is. Do you wish to speak to him?’

‘I do.’

Blackie, hearing Sarah’s voice and detecting a harsh tone, was already crossing the floor. In a split second, he was standing next to his uncle.

‘Hello, Sarah, why are ye here? Do ye have something to tell me?’

‘No, ask you. What happened when you saw Angela on Saturday?’ She sounded angry.

‘Nothing, because I never saw her.’

Patrick interjected, ‘You’d better come into the house, Sarah. I don’t want a commotion on my front doorstep.’

He opened the door wider, and Sarah walked up the steps. He noticed that the young woman was extremely pale. Chalk-white, in fact. Something was wrong.

Pulling out a chair, he said, ‘Please sit down and make yourself comfortable.’

She did so. Patrick indicated to Blackie that he should sit opposite her, and then he himself took a seat.

‘Now what is this all about?’ Blackie asked, looking nonplussed, slightly troubled.

‘You tell me,’ she snapped. ‘What happened on Saturday morning?’

‘Nothing. I arrived at her house, at noon. She didn’t answer the door. I went to the back. That was locked also. The neighbour saw me and said she thought Angela had gone shopping. I gave her my name and left.’

‘She wasn’t there, you say. But I know she was,’ Sarah protested.

‘No, no!’ Blackie shot back. ‘I asked the neighbour where I could get a sandwich. She told me to go to Hettys Café near The Stray. I did. It began to drizzle. I ran. On my way, I bumped into my cousin Siobhan. We went to Hettys Café and then to Bolton Manor, where Siobhan works as a lady’s maid.’

‘And after that?’ Sarah demanded.