“Only partly,” Ernest said. “ Laurence—my brother—felt that he might be useful to us. He didn’t get very good O level grades and he failed his A levels, but Laurence thought that he had a very good grasp of figures. We decided to start him off in the shop to see how he got on. We thought that we might be able to move him then to help Laurence with the wages and accounts. One of the boy’s O levels was in computer science, and we’ve recently installed a computer. Of course we could take on a qualified programmer, but…”

“That would have cost you more.”

Ernest nodded. He did not recognize any criticism in the detective’s words.

“When did you ask the Mardles to leave the cottage?”

“We gave them notice to leave at the end of February. They moved at Easter.”

“Where did they go to?”

“They were rehoused by the council.”

“So all these threats were made six months ago?”

“Nicholas did come to see me then to ask me to reconsider my decision, but no, the actual threats were made at the end of July when his mother died. He was very upset, naturally. He had some fanciful notion that the move had contributed to her illness and her death. It was all nonsense. I only listened to him because I felt sorry for him. He’s never had many friends. His mother spoiled him. Her death obviously hit him hard.”

“What exactly did he say?”

“He blamed the family for his mother’s death. He talked about vengeance. He said that he would do the same to us. He said that he would like to kill us all.”

“But you can’t have taken him seriously? You would never have continued to employ him if you’d thought that he meant it.”

“Of course I didn’t take it seriously. He was so upset that he didn’t know what he was saying. He even apologized the next day. Not a proper apology, but he was much calmer. I must admit, though, that I was in favour of dismissing him. Not only because of the outburst against the family, but because I thought he might be a disruptive influence in the shop. Father asked me to keep him on.”

“Your father still has an interest in the business?”

“He never stops interfering.” Helen Todd immediately regretted these words and tried to soften their impact. “He’s a very old man. I’m afraid his business sense isn’t as keen as it was.”

“Did Nicholas Mardle discuss the move from the cottage, and his mother’s death, with your father?”

“He made rather a scene there, after his mother died,” Ernest said. “ He actually went to the old man’s house, started shouting and screaming at him. I would have called the police, but I didn’t hear about it until afterwards. Mardle went to see Laurence too, but I don’t think that he threatened him. He broke down completely, apparently. Said he didn’t know how he would carry on without his mother.”