Then they could see the wall and there seemed to be hundreds of sheep jostling in front of them. The sheep were usually white but there were a good number of more valuable black and brown animals among them. The noise of bleating sheep was added to that of the dogs and the men. As the sheep hit the wall some of them ran west towards George and he ran towards them shouting and waving his arms like the other men.

As he approached the wall he saw someone walking along the cliffs on the other side of it. It was Elspeth Dance. He recognized the tangled curly hair, the fur coat. He recognized, too, the green silk scarf, which she wore around her neck and which the wind caught and blew out like a streamer.

George waited for her at the wall. The sheep were easier to control now. They were already running down the side of the wall, and some had reached the field at Kell. He was no longer needed. When she saw him, she began to turn away as if she wanted to avoid conversation, but he climbed over the wall, proud of his agility in front of her, and he joined her in her walk back along the cliffs.

“You don’t mind if I join you,” he said, in such a way that she could not refuse. She did not answer and seemed so preoccupied that he wondered if she had heard him.

“Would you mind telling me,” he said, “where you found the scarf?”

“Do you know who it belongs to?” she asked. “ My son gave it to me. He promised that he hadn’t stolen it.”

“You don’t recognize it?” She shook her head.

“When did he give it to you?”

“Yesterday. He was late home from school. It was a kind of peace offering.”

“Did he tell you where he found it?”

“No. He wouldn’t say.”

“It was Mary’s,” he said. “ She was wearing it at the party. Just before she died.”

She seemed bewildered.

“Then why did he have it?”

“I don’t know. Would you mind if I asked him? I told the police that I was worried because the scarf hadn’t been found. It would tie up all sorts of loose ends if I could clear it up.”

“I don’t know.” She did genuinely seem to want to help. “He’s been through a lot lately. I wouldn’t want to upset him.”

“I would be very gentle. I have a grandson of about his age.”

She seemed reassured. “ Very well then. He’ll be at school now, but if you meet me at the school house at a quarter to four, you can see him then.”

He would have been happy to walk down the island with her, but she seemed to want to be on her own.