‘Oh, yes. He’s all right, like. Don’t steal no eggs nor nothing. Oh, ah. He’s all right.’

‘Are you a member of his choir?’

‘I be, too and all. Tenor, I be.’

‘You really know him very well indeed, then.’

‘Well, no, I wouldn’t say that. He’m too much of a gentleman, like, for me to say as how I know him.’

‘A gentleman? What makes you say that?’

‘Well, I reckon he be. Wouldn’t you call Mr Tiny a gentleman, mam?’

‘You mean that Mr Emming is Mr Tiny’s son?’

‘Stands to reason, I reckon. Not much doubt Mrs Dalby Whittier was Mr Tiny’s wife. If her weren’t, her were Mr Bill’s wife. I couldn’t make no mistake she were wife to one on ’em, and Mr Emming confess to being her son.’

‘Yes, but it might be very important to know which of the Fullaloves was Mrs Whittier’s man, you know, Ed.’

‘Well, if I ’ad to guess, I’d say Mr Bill. Stands to reason Mr Bill wouldn’t have taken out no insurance, else. But I reckon, too, as this new young ’ooman, er’s Mr Tiny’s.’

‘Why?’ asked Mrs Bradley, deeply interested in this view.

‘It’s like this,’ explained Ed. ‘Living by myself I ’ave time to turn things over in my ’ead, like. And what I ben thinkin’ is this: Mr Bill never should have died like that. There was summat wrong about it. I reckon as ’ow the two of ’em was going to ’ave the one insurance between ’em, so, payin’ only the one premium, either on ’em could benefit, no matter which one died.’

‘But the Christian names?’ said Mrs Bradley, startled to hear her own theories proceeding from Ed. Ed shook his head pityingly.

‘When I was out in India,’ he said, ‘there was a bit of a case, see? Mr Tiny, ’e was ’ad up for cruelty to an ’Indoo. That’s why he come ’ome. It was a real bad case and I ’ad to give my evidence. That’s when I found out ’is name’s William. Well, Mr Bill bein’ called Bill, which ’is name may or may not ’ave been, it made it very orkard in front of the law. So I reckon Mr Bill got ’imself insured, and Mr Tiny was to ’ave the money if anything ’appened to ’im. Whereas, if, as it seemed most likely, it were Mr Tiny as died first, well, nothing amiss about the name – it’s still down as William Fullalove. That’s why I reckon this wife is Mr Tiny’s, and the policy were Mr Bill’s.’

‘I agree with you entirely about the policy, Ed, but I still don’t see how you make out that the claimant is Mr Tiny’s wife and not Mr Bill’s wife.’