Harvey must have heard her exasperated sigh, for he raised his nose from his paws to regard her warily, his ears flattening to his head, his tail moving weakly against the rug in supplication.

Peggy knew that guilty look, and it confirmed her suspicions that something had happened here tonight. She folded her arms and glared at Ron who was still snoring as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

Harvey sensed trouble and got to his feet, quickly slinking past her, tail between his legs, in search of sanctuary with Cordelia in the kitchen.

Peggy stood and watched Ron for a moment, noting that despite the warm evening, he was still wearing his poacher’s coat over a sweater that looked as if it’d been wrung out and left to dry on him. As she regarded these disreputable items of clothing, something squirmed in one of the coat pockets, and she heard the unmistakable chirrup of ferrets coming from its depths.

That was enough to bring the simmering suspicions to a head and raise her blood pressure. She marched across the room and jabbed him none too gently in the shoulder. ‘Wake up, Ron,’ she ordered. ‘Wake up this minute and explain to me why you brought the ferrets with you.’

Ron slowly opened one bleary blue eye and then the other to look up at her in bewildered innocence. ‘Ach, Peggy, wee girl. Are ye back already? I must be off home to me Rosie.’

He struggled to rise from the chair, but Peggy pushed him back and barred his way. ‘You’re not going anywhere until you’ve told me what’s been going on here,’ she said flatly.

‘Going on?’ he asked, wide-eyed with hurt innocence. ‘Why should anything have been going on?’

‘Because there are washed sheets on the line; a bloodied gardening glove on my draining board; the dresser has been shifted and tidied up and I can definitely smell disinfectant – and if that wasn’t enough, you’ve been drinking and have got ferrets in your pocket.’

‘Aye, well, I can explain,’ he replied, his gaze drifting to a point somewhere beyond her shoulder. ‘’Tis all quite simple, wee girl, and nothing for you to be worrying your pretty head about.’

‘Don’t patronise me with your blarney,’ she snapped. ‘What happened here tonight?’

‘’Tis sorry I am if you think I’m being patronising,’ he replied dolefully. He hastily swallowed a yawn. ‘To be sure, I’m ready for me bed. Can we not discuss this in the morning, Peggy?’

‘No. Out with it, Ron – and I want the truth, not any of your fanciful nonsense.’

He took a breath and focused his gaze on his feet. ‘I thought the wee girls would like to meet Flora and Dora. But ’twas a terrible mistake, for Emily took fright and Rose joined in, and their screaming sent the wee beasts scurrying.’

He bared his teeth in a forced smile which didn’t quite reach his still wary eyes. ‘Still, it’s all right now. The girls are asleep, and Flora and Dora are back in me pocket. So there’s no harm done, and I shall be taking them home the minute you let me pass.’