‘I didn’t at first. I used to spend quite a bit of time at the river, and then one day, a little while after I found your bracelet, I saw the same man on the bridge. He threw something over again, only this time I followed him and he came back to this house. When I went back to the river to look for what he’d thrown, I found this watch.’

‘My goodness,’ said the elderly lady as Sarah then handed the watch to her. ‘I had almost given up any hope of ever seeing this again.’

‘I’m assuming this belongs to you too?’ Sarah asked and held out the ring.

‘Yes, it does,’ Mrs Alderton-Steele said. ‘What did this man look like?’

‘He was well dressed, very tall and slim, with black hair. I’d say he was in his late thirties. I reckon he must live or work in this house ’cos he used a key to get in the door.’ She could see the old woman’s face slowly changing as Mrs Alderton-Steele realised Sarah was describing her son. A look of shock replaced her uppity expression. Then Sarah continued, ‘I racked my brains and couldn’t think why a bloke would just throw away such expensive-looking stuff, and to be honest I did think about flogging it. After all, as they say, finders keepers.’

‘I see. So why didn’t you?’

‘The likes of me could never afford jewellery like that, and I was frightened I’d get nicked for stealing it. I kept it hidden in my room, but eventually my conscience got the better of me, so here I am …’

‘You are a very decent young lady, very decent indeed. I doubt there would be many who would be so honest, but tell me, have you found anything else?’

‘No, I haven’t been to the river for a while now, but there could well be more stuff down there.’

‘Yes, I would imagine there probably is as I have several other items missing. Henry, where is Godfrey?’

‘He went out earlier. He didn’t say where he was going or when he would be returning, but I would assume he’s at his club.’

‘Henry, there’s a photograph on the piano. Show it to Miss Jepson.’

Sarah took the framed photograph and as she looked at it, Mrs Alderton-Steele asked, ‘Is that the man you saw?’

Though she had never actually seen him, the description Jenny had given her matched, so she said without hesitation, ‘Yes.’

Mrs Alderton-Steele held her hand to her head and closed her eyes. ‘Henry, my smelling salts. This is all too much.’

Henry passed the woman a small bottle which she held in her handkerchief and lightly sniffed. ‘Why would my son steal from me? It makes no sense.’