“Charlie owned it,” John said, surprised. “He owned the island and the observatory.”

“This place is the observatory?”

John nodded. “ There are several around the coast, all owned by charitable bodies. We carry out a scientific study of birds, count them, ring them, and provide facilities for people to stay, and to help us. We have lots of school groups here, especially in the spring and summer. All the people staying here now are members of the observatory committee. They decide on policy. I suppose that they employ me.”

“And Mr. Todd was a member of this committee?”

“Yes. A very special member, because he owned the island, and besides my wife and myself he was the only resident. He lived in that wooden chalet down the island.”

“Did he live here all the time?”

“No. Sometimes he would stay for months at a time and we would see a lot of him, then he would disappear. He always came back for the committee weekend though.”

“That was this weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me exactly what happened, from the minute you picked up the party on the shore on Friday evening … Just a minute, Mr. Todd was with them?”

“Yes.”

“How long had he been away from the island?”

“A week. I gave him a lift off last Saturday.”

“Right. Carry on then.”

John described meeting the party on the mainland and Savage let him talk uninterrupted until he reached the point in the narrative when he left the table in the middle of the evening meal.

“Why?” he asked sharply. “Why did you walk out like that?”

All the policeman’s questions came immediately, aggressively. John was given no time for thought.

“I’ve tried to explain. I was very upset. If Charlie sold the island, it would mean that I would lose my job and my home.”

“A bit melodramatic, wasn’t it, walking out like that?”

John’s voice rose in anger.

“Elizabeth is expecting our child,” he said. “I was worried about the future. Our future.”

“I suppose that you’ll be in the same position now though, won’t you? The island will still be sold.”

“I suppose so,” said John, then immediately regretted the easy, defensive answer. The policeman was bound to find out about the will. He might even know about it now. He looked up at Savage.

“That’s not quite true,” he said. “ I hope that we’ll be able to stay now. Charlie left the island to the Observatory Trust in his will.”

Savage raised his eyes but made no comment. “ Go on,” he said.

John explained that he had been for a walk on the island, that some time later Elizabeth had come to meet him, then described the fire at the Wendy House.

“How do you think the fire was started?”

“I don’t know. Charlie thought that the tilly was knocked over by the cat, but it seemed unlikely even then. The tilly’s so heavy.”

“You say that it was standing by an open window. Could somebody have reached in through the window and pushed over the lamp?”