‘He refused to answer his door the second time,’ Emer said. ‘I kept trying until one of his neighbours came out and threatened to call the police if I didn’t go away.’

Emer was about to say something else when her phone started ringing.

‘It’s Maeve,’ she said, ‘hang on.’

She picked up her phone and moved away from the table.

‘What do we do now?’ Dee asked Leonard.

‘We go back there,’ he said. ‘And we don’t leave until we get him to talk to us. Your cousin there, she’s not a journalist. You and me, on the other hand, we’ve got years of practice persuading people to talk to us.’

‘Okay,’ Dee said. ‘But I’ve got something important on later, Leonard. I’ll need to be heading back by mid afternoon at the latest.’

She felt a flash of joy, tinged with pain, as she thought about dinner later with Ella, Jake and Tom. As well as being home in time for the dinner, she’d have to give herself time to prepare emotionally. No easy task.

‘That shouldn’t be a problem.’ Leonard nodded at Emer, putting her phone into the pocket of her jeans as she walked back to them. ‘Think she’ll want to stick around while we try again?’

‘Maeve got lost,’ Emer said, coming back to the table. ‘Apparently, she couldn’t work out how the Underground works. I know that must sound stupid, but she’s never been to London before. I think she’s feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’ve arranged to meet her back at her hotel. After that, I was wondering, Dee…’

‘Of course,’ Dee said, anticipating the question before Emer asked it. ‘You’re both welcome to stay. There’s plenty of room, as you know. The only thing is, I’m going out this evening. Are you okay getting the train to Eastbourne and a taxi to the house? Here.’ Dee rooted around in her bag until she found her keyring. Pulling off the front door key, she handed this to Emer. ‘Make yourselves at home.’

‘What about you?’ Emer asked.

‘My neighbour has a spare key,’ Dee said. ‘I can use that. Just text me and let me know what time you’ll be back.’

‘Penny for them,’ Leonard said, after Emer had left.

‘Sorry,’ Dee said. ‘I was thinking about Maeve. Trying to work out why she came to London with Emer.’

‘She wants to find out what happened to her sister,’ Leonard said. ‘Nothing strange about that.’

‘Maybe,’ Dee said.

‘No maybe about it,’ Leonard said. ‘Besides, you’ll be seeing her later. You can ask her yourself. In the meantime, let’s try the old bloke again. Who knows? Maybe he can shed some light on this whole bloody mess.’

‘You really think there’s any point going back there and trying again?’