‘Two girls, friends, from the same small town, both gone within a few weeks of each? One missing. One presumed dead, although her body was never found. Coincidence? Maybe. My ex-husband, Billy, he used to say that coincidences are just a pattern we can’t see.’

‘Still doesn’t mean the woman working in this pub is your dead cousin.’

Dee looked at the river. So much life out there. So much death too. She wondered how many people had drowned in the Thames over the years, disappearing into its murky depths and losing their lives just like Kitty.

‘Penny for them,’ Leonard said.

‘Sorry.’ Dee smiled. ‘Lost in my memories.’

‘Tell you what.’ Leonard held up his empty pint. ‘How about you get me another one of these and then we can decide what we’re going to do.’

‘You mean you’ll help me?’

‘I can’t see the harm,’ Leonard said. ‘It’s not as if I’ve got much else to occupy myself these days. Besides, I get the impression you’re not going to let this one go, are you?’

‘Emer’s my dad’s niece,’ Dee said. ‘The one remaining connection I have with him. I want to help her. Even if it turns out to be nothing…’

‘Which it will.’

‘I know. But I have to do something. I’m scared if I don’t do this for her, she won’t want to see me again. I don’t want to lose her before I have the chance to get to know her.’

Six

Two glasses of wine and several pints later, they had a plan. Leonard was going to start visiting the pub a few times a week, ingratiating himself with the bar staff and finding out what he could about Annie.

‘I doubt I’ll find anything interesting,’ he told Dee, ‘but if you think she’s worth investigating, that’s good enough for me. And if a bit of digging helps your cousin to finally accept her sister’s dead, then all the better.’

He finished what was left in his pint glass.

‘All right, Dee. Lovely as this has been, I’ve got plans for the rest of the day. I need to be heading off.’

By now, Dee was feeling decidedly woozy. Wine in the afternoon was never a good idea. After saying goodbye to Leonard at Wapping station, she decided to walk to London Bridge station, where she could catch a train to Eastbourne.

With her rucksack on her back, she headed west, following the river as it wound its way through the city. She called Emer along the way to give her an update.

‘You really think it could be her?’ Emer asked.

‘No,’ Dee said. ‘I’m sorry to sound so blunt, but I think you need to prepare yourself for that.’

‘If that’s what you think, why bother helping?’