‘Yes. It’s lucky for young Cliff that he spent the crucial time screwing Bach out of that haggard old mass of wreckage in the outhouse. Everybody knew about the row and his bolt down-country afterwards. Your boyfriend, the Sub-Inspector, fastened on it like a limpet, but fortunately we could all swear to the continuous piano playing. Cliff’s all right.’

‘What’s the explanation of the whisky incident?’

‘I’ve not the slightest idea, but I’m perfectly certain he wasn’t pinching it. I’ve tried to get the story out of him, but he won’t come clean, blast him.’

‘Does he get on well with the other men?’

‘Not too badly. They were inclined at one time to look upon him as a freak. His schooling and tastes aroused their deepest suspicions, of course. In this country, young men are judged almost entirely on their ability to play games and do manual labour. However, Cliff set about his holiday jobs on the station with such energy that they overlooked his other unfortunate interests and even grew to encourage him in playing the piano in the evening. When he came home a good whole-hog Leftist, they were delighted, of course. They’re a good lot—most of them.’

‘Not all?’

‘The shearers’ cook is not much use. He only comes at shearing time. Mrs Johns looks after the regular hands at other times. Lots of the shearers wait until they’ve knocked up a good fat cheque and then go down-country and blue it all at the pub. That’s the usual routine and you won’t change it until you change the social condition of the shearer. But this expert keeps the stuff in his cookhouse and if we get through the shearing season without a bout of DTs we’re lucky. He’s a nasty affair is Cookie but he’s unavoidable. They don’t dislike him, oddly enough. The rouseabout, Albie Black, is rather thick with him. He used to be quite matey with young Cliff, too, but they had a break of some sort. Fortunately, I consider. Albie’s a hopeless sort of specimen. Now, if it’d been Albie who pinched the whisky, I shouldn’t have been the least surprised. Or Perce. The cook’s name is Percy Gould, commonly called Perce. All Christian names are abbreviated in this country.’

‘How did Mrs Rubrick get on with the men?’