Ramsay looked at his watch. “That’s all right,” he said easily. “There’s no hurry. I can wait. I’ll have a few words with you first.”

There was a silence.

“You musn’t mind Charlie,” Elliot said. “ He had a bad time in the army. He doesn’t like the police.”

Ramsay said nothing. Elliot stood by the boiler, arms by his side, a veteran at a British Legion parade showing his grief by respect.

“I’ll miss Alice Parry,” he said. “She was a good woman.”

“Was she a friend?” Ramsay asked.

Elliot seemed surprised by the question. “Aye,” he said at last. “I suppose she was. We were different, of course. Her folks had a big estate up on the border and she went away to some smart school in the south, but I think she would have thought me her friend. I hope she would.”

There was another pause, then he continued: “She was very kind to me when my wife died. Charlie wasn’t here then and I was on my own. Mrs. Parry saw to everything. I couldn’t have managed without her. That’s why the business with Henshaw was so upsetting.”

“Did you believe her,” Ramsay asked, “when she said she’d sold the land to be used for a small development of starter homes?”

“Of course,” Elliot said angrily. “ Everyone who knew Mrs. Parry believed her. She was an honest woman.”

“What about your son?” Ramsay asked quietly. “ Did he believe her, too?”

Elliot stared at him. “ Why do you want to know?” he demanded. “What have people been telling you?”

Ramsay shrugged. “ That he was angry about the housing development,” he said, “and that he blamed Alice Parry for it.”

Elliot looked tired and confused. “ He hasn’t settled since he left the army,” he muttered. “ I was proud when he joined up, and perhaps it was a mistake. It changed him. Then when he came home there was trouble with a woman.”

“I know,” Ramsay said. “ I’ve spoken to Maggie Kerr.”

Elliot looked up. “Have you?” he said. “ I try to tell myself it wasn’t her fault, but I can’t help thinking she led him on. He came home thinking she would marry him, then she wouldn’t have him. It’s made him a bitter man. It affects everything he does. If he hadn’t blamed Mrs. Parry for upsetting him, it would have been someone else. He’s a good mechanic, but he doesn’t get on with his boss. Tom Kerr’s choirmaster up at the church and he’s well respected, but there’s something hard about him. He’s not as flexible as he might be! Charlie needs careful handling at the moment. He was well trained in the army and thinks he knows best.”

“I’m surprised Mr. Kerr took him on,” Ramsay said, “ in the circumstances.”