And no, she wasn’t worried. He was always doing this. Business trips. Hard worker. Successful. Mean as cat’s meat with the cash, but you can’t have everything. He took her out and about sometimes when he went somewhere interesting, just to keep her entertained. Sometimes for show, because he wanted her to play the little wifey for clients. Not often—she wasn’t very good at that. Never liked the clients much. Or their wives. Bath had been nice, and Bournemouth. Cambridge, not bad. She’d enjoyed the punt on the river.

“And how about the lunch at Aunty’s café on Friday?” Thoday asked.

She grinned. “Excellent! Worth every one of his pennies! That’s when he nipped off. I knew he was coming up here on a job. He did warn me, so I suppose I can’t complain. He was tracking somebody. Did you know he was a detective?” she added with pride. “Not like you, a state functionary. He’s more your Sherlock Holmes. Private. It’s one of his businesses. He specialises in finding people, for personal as well as legal reasons. At least, that’s how he got started. After the war, a lot of people had gone astray one way or another and needed to be caught up with.” She gave a mischievous smile. “Of course, some didn’t want to be found! That made the job harder and the fees bigger—in line with the effort expended. And the effort, I noticed, with Abel, was in direct proportion to the size of the client’s bank account. I help him with his books, so I know his secrets. Most of them. He’s got a staff of five working for him now, but he still likes to keep his hand in. You’ve no idea the number of people who need help with their problems on the quiet. He does divorce cases as well, if you’re ever interested. He’s very good at it. Catching the wrong people together at the wrong time. On camera, if you take my meaning. He’s been in and out of more bedrooms than Casanova.”

Thoday looked about him with a stagy show of alarm. “I’ll be sure to keep my name out of Mr. Hardy’s books!” He’d decided that the way to loosen Edith’s tongue was through humour and fellow feeling, and he added incautiously. “And my ugly mug away from his lens! Can you be sure he wasn’t lurking behind the laurels with his little Kodak vest-pocket camera just now, snapping us eloping together in a taxi?”