In time with each other, like the chorus of a musical, the typists speared wool with knitting needles, sighed loudly, and stood up. They filed in a line out of the room. Molly almost expected them to return and curtsey.

“What was he like?” Molly asked.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Louis is being held by the police in Cornwall in connection with a murder. As far as I can see, the only reason for his arrest is that he met the victim, Greg Franks, at a probation hostel here. I’m not convinced Louis had anything to do with it.”

“He never meant to kill that security guard in the boat yard,” Mike said. “ I saw him in the remand centre before he went to court, and he was really shocked even then. He was angry, too.”

“Why was he angry?”

The man paused. “ I think there was more to the arson than the police would ever recognise,” he said. “ Officially, at least. I know one of the officers on the case had his suspicions about it, too, but he couldn’t persuade anyone else to take them seriously.” He looked at Molly through his thick spectacles. “I went into a lot of detail to prepare the original social enquiry report,” he explained. “ More than I’d have time for now. I was just out of college. He was the first report on a serious crime I’d ever done. That’s why I remember the case so well.”

“Don’t you think Rosco set fire to the boat yard?”

“Oh, yes,” Mike said. “He admitted that as soon as he was arrested. But I think he’d been paid to do it. By his boss. Only his boss didn’t tell him about the security guard who paid routine visits to the premises throughout the night.”

“Why should anyone want to set fire to his own boat yard?”

“For the insurance money,” Mike said. Later, when she was to discuss this with Claire, Molly thought it significant that Mike had come so close to the truth. He did not have the details about Barnes, but they agreed that Rolfe’s version of events was confirmed and strengthened by the probation officer’s own enquiries at the time of the crime.

“Why didn’t Rosco tell the police that he’d been paid to start the fire?”

“Perhaps he’s not that sort of man. Perhaps he was threatened. Or perhaps the plan all along was that he should be caught and convicted—the insurance company would have to pay up then—but he was well paid for the time spent inside.”

The Jessie Ellen, Molly thought. The payment for keeping his mouth shut was the Jessie Ellen.

“Did you suspect that Rosco had anything to do with drugs?” Molly asked.