The boys shook their heads. “He’s an Arab,” said Sean. “Dad says—”

“That’ll do,” cut in Mr. Bancroft. “Just answer the lady’s questions.”

“Yes, he’s an Arab,” said Gerry. “Though that’s a bit of a broad description. Covers a wide area. We don’t know what country he came from yet.”

“Is he one of those boat people?” Luke asked. “Or an asylum seeker?”

“I see you’ve been keeping an eye on the news.”

“We do it at school,” Sean explained. “Current affairs. Anyway, we haven’t seen him around here. If he did come from the Hollyfield he must be new there.”

“But nobody’s new there,” Luke said. “They’ve nearly all left.”

“He could be a squatter or something,” Sean argued. “They take over empty houses, don’t they?”

“Not seen him in the park, on the swings or anything?” Gerry asked.

“No,” said Sean, adding for no good reason, “we always play there with other boys and girls we know, and there’s always a grown-up there to keep an eye on us.”

“A good thing, too,” said Gerry. She glanced up at the boys’ parents. “I understand you have a Neighborhood Watch in the area. Do either of you belong to it?”

Mr. and Mrs. Farrar said they did. Gerry showed them the photograph, too, and the Bancrofts.

“We’ve never seen him,” said Mrs. Farrar. “Mind you, we stay on our side of the park. That’s our boundary. We don’t go over to the Hollyfield Estate. No reason to. To be quite honest, we’ll all be glad when it’s been flattened to the ground. They say the plans for the new houses are quite nice. Then there’ll be the shopping. And the cinema.” Mrs. Bancroft smiled at her.

Gerry was running out of questions. Her cozy flat and a large glass of Chardonnay before bed were feeling increasingly attractive. “When you were in the house, did you touch anything?” she asked the boys.

“No,” said Sean. “We just walked in the room, like. It was dark and it smelled funny. Then I saw the scooter. It wasn’t until I got around the side that I saw the man sitting in it. I saw his hair and his beard first, then his eyes, but that was enough. We ran out of the front door.”

“Was the door open?”

“No. I had to open it.”

“I mean was it locked?”

“Oh. No. It opened when I turned the handle. Why? Do you think someone went in and killed that man? But they could have gone in the back like we did. The back door was unlocked too, and even open a bit.”

Gerry smiled. “No, we don’t think that. It seems like an accidental death. I’m just trying to get all the details straight, that’s all.” She set her mug down on the coffee table, put away her notebook and pen and stood up to leave.

“Ooh, look at the time,” said Mrs. Bancroft, also standing. “We’d better be taking Sean home now, too.” She patted her boy’s head. “It’s school tomorrow.” Sean scowled and edged away, embarrassed. Gerry winked at him. He blushed.