‘Okay, tell me more.’

‘Well, if it was a woman, she was unusually tall. And the shoes, they looked like a bloke’s shoes. And she walked like a bloke too. She had no grace, no sway of the hips. It could have been a dyke, I suppose. Some of them look more like blokes than most blokes do.’

Kesey hid her annoyance surprisingly well. On another day, in other circumstances, she’d have ripped into him, old soldier or not, but now was not the time. ‘Okay, let me see if I’ve got this right. You’re telling me that the person you saw was tall, they may have been wearing men’s shoes, and in your opinion, they walked like a male. I need you to focus. Are you saying it was a man, or that it could have been a man?’

‘It could have been, that’s what I’m saying. It could have been, that’s all. Or it may have been a woman too.’

The detective tried to stay patient. ‘Can you put a percentage on it for me?’

‘I’d say fifty-fifty, it was one or the other. The hair looked feminine, the make-up looked feminine, and the clothes, but the rest not so much. And whoever it was seemed to be talking to themselves. That’s the best I can offer. I’d opened a bottle of whiskey by that point. Between that and the meds, I was pretty far gone.’

Kesey struggled to maintain her composure. She doubted the value of his evidence. She was asking herself if it was evidence at all. ‘But you are certain you hadn’t seen the person before? Is that correct?’

‘Yeah, I’d put money on that one.’

‘And you haven’t seen them since?’

‘No, I was taken away in an ambulance later that morning. I’m diabetic. My carer found me in a coma. Lucky really, if she hadn’t turned up when she did I would have died. Although, that may not have been such a bad thing, now that I think about it. My best days are long gone.’

Kesey picked up her pen. ‘I want you to give me as full a description of the person you saw as you possibly can. Do you think you can do that for me?’

His expression hardened. ‘If you think I’m wasting your time, I’ll piss off now. You only have to say the word.’

Kesey leant towards him, admonishing herself for her agitation. ‘I’m sorry. It’s been a tough week. Take your time. This matters. I’ve got as long as it takes.’

‘White Caucasian, shoulder-length dark hair, brown or maybe black, it was hard to say in the moonlight. And I’d say somewhere between five foot ten inches and six feet tall, slim build. Is that any good to you?’

‘That seems very specific if you don’t mind me saying so.’

‘I notice people. It goes with the territory. Watching strangers, weighing up risks. It’s ingrained in me. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to. As I said, she stuck in my mind.’