‘One of the residents there claims that she lived in the house in Harbour Street at the same time as Margaret.’ Holly looked at her notes. ‘Susan Coulson. She’s a bit confused, and was talking about having had a child that was taken away from her. But she did say that she knew Margaret’s boss.’

‘Okay. That’d be Malcom Kerr. Or his father, Billy. Let’s get Malcolm in tomorrow. I can’t believe that he didn’t know how Margaret was earning her living at that time. He’s always seen himself as some sort of confidant. I don’t see him as a pimp, though. Anything else?’

Holly looked again at her notes. ‘Not from the Haven, but I spoke to Enderby’s wife.’

‘And?’

‘She confirmed that she’s left him. Posh Diana has fallen for a guy who runs the stables where she keeps her horses.’ Holly grinned. ‘He’s very fit apparently. She went into some detail . . . And I asked Enderby if we could take the outdoor clothes that he was carrying around in his wheelie suitcase for testing.’

‘How did he seem when you asked him?’

‘Hurt. “How can you believe that I would do something like that?” He didn’t kick up too much of a fuss, though.’

Vera looked around the room. ‘Anyone else like to contribute to this investigation? Or is this just a case being run by the women on the team?’

Joe slowly raised his hand.

‘Yes, Joe. You and Charlie have had a nice day out in the country visiting our professor.’ She pointed to Mike Craggs’s name on the board. ‘What did you get from him? He was knocking around in Mardle at the time. A young research scientist. Was he one of Margaret’s customers, do you think?’

‘Craggs admitted that he admired her,’ Joe said. ‘But nah, I don’t think so. He was already married to his wife then, and you can tell that he loves her to bits.’ He saw that Vera was about to sneer – any talk of romance and she pretended to puke – so he moved on quickly. ‘Craggs did pass on one interesting bit of information, though.’

‘Get on with it, Joe man.’

‘The Kerrs were in financial difficulties in the Eighties. They owed money all over the town and when the office building burned down, it seemed a bit too convenient. Rumour had it that it was an insurance scam.’

Joe could see Vera processing this and dismissing it as unimportant. He suspected that she’d developed a theory of her own. That would explain her excitement. She was just waiting for the right moment to share it. Still he persisted. ‘Margaret would have known the Kerrs’ financial position. She kept their books, after all. If she was planning to come clean about the past, maybe she was going to talk about that too.’