It was not dark outside, but the electric light was on in the sitting room and the heavy curtains were drawn. There was an enormous fire in the grate and the room was very hot. Agnes sat in a rocking chair near to the fire and was knitting. She would never usually have picked up her knitting on a Sunday, but she needed the comfort of it and thought that the Lord would understand. Sarah sat on the floor beside her. Jim let George into the house and Sandy rushed out of the sitting room to greet him. When they had all sat down, he said:

“George, who killed our daughter?”

“It was James.”

Agnes looked up, but continued to knit ferociously.

“Tell us about it,” she said. “Why did he do it?”

“Because she knew his secret and he was afraid that she would tell.”

“What was his secret?” Jim asked. “Do you know?”

“He and Sylvia Drysdale were lovers.”

“No,” Agnes said sharply. “He was a religious man.”

“He was a frustrated man,” Jim said. “ You must have seen Melissa and James together, Mother. Even when she still came down the island with him to the dances, she would never let him touch her.”

“He would never have gone with a woman like Sylvia Drysdale.”

“She is very attractive,” George said, “and she did care for him. It’s been going on for a long time. I think he tried to stop it, more than once, but they had become dependent on each other. He needed the physical contact and she liked to feel that she was wanted. Melissa guessed, I think, what was happening. She was perhaps even a little relieved.”

“They must have been very careful,” Sarah said. “ It can’t be easy to keep a secret on Kinness.”