“What? Oh, that. No, ducks, that’s just the wireless. Keeps me company. I’ll turn it off.” I hung my hat and coat on the pegs of the hall stand, then followed him to the kitchen. The voices were suddenly silenced. A steaming plate piled with what looked like steak and kidney pudding sat on the table.

“Oh, you’re having your supper,” I said, never having got the terminology for meals of the lower classes quite right. Dinner at lunchtime and apparently tea at what would be for us an early dinner. “Sit down and eat it. Don’t let it get cold.”

“Her next door brought it round for me,” he said. “Steak and kidney pud. My favorite. There’s plenty here. Can I get you some?”

I shook my head. “I’m really not hungry, but I’ll have a cup of tea if there is one in the pot.” Another thing I had learned about people like my grandfather was that there was always a cup of tea in the pot. They drank it by the gallon and the kettle was always ready and hot in case a neighbor came to visit.

“Of course there is,” he said. “Help yourself. The milk jug’s in the larder.”

I poured a cup of tea then came to sit opposite him as he tucked into the pudding.

“I’m glad you’ve still got a good appetite,” I said.

He nodded. “She may be a bit of a nuisance but she certainly can cook. How’s that relative of hers getting along with you, then?” Mrs. Huggins was Queenie’s great-aunt.

“Between the two of us she’s as hopeless as always,” I said and managed a smile. “I don’t think she’ll ever improve, but I need a maid, she needs a job. We probably suit each other.”

He looked up, a kidney poised on his fork. “I saw your picture at that royal wedding. You looked very smart. Was it as lovely as they said?”

“It was very nice,” I agreed. “Princess Marina looked beautiful.”

“And what’s she like, then? Foreign?”

“Her English is perfect and she was delightful,” I said. “I really enjoyed my time with her.” Apart from the murder, I thought. That was rather unsettling. It seemed that my life moved from one worrying incident to the next, each striking closer and closer to home.

“So where are you off to now?” he asked. “And what brings you to my neck of the woods? I don’t suppose you came all this way just to say hello to your old granddad.”

“I love seeing you at any time,” I said. “You know that. But you’re right. I’m afraid I bolted. I had some bad news and I ran out of the house and came straight to you, because you’re the only person I can talk to.”

“Bad news?”