“Perhaps old George has made it back after all,” Roger Pym said. Then the others joined in with a desperate optimism. Perhaps the traffic had cleared. Perhaps George had heard the long-term weather forecast which predicted the tail end of hurricane Erin crossing the Atlantic with a series of heavy depressions. George liked seabirds more than any of them. He would not want to miss a good blow.

Only Jane Pym remained silent, as if she had a premonition of what was to follow. She watched Rose Pengelly leave the table to answer the door.

The sight of Sergeant Berry, quiet, apologetic but somehow intimidating in his calm, stopped the chatter. He said that Inspector Bingham was sorry to interrupt their evening, but she would be grateful if she could have a few words with Mrs. Pym. He had a car with him and would bring her back when the interview was over. It was only a routine matter, and they weren’t to worry at all.

Jane Pym stared at the sergeant, bewildered and unmoving. It was Roger who replied first. “I’ll come, too,” he said. “I’ll not have you bullying Jane. She’ll need someone with her.”

“No need for that,” Berry said; his voice was firm and gentle. “I’ll look after her for you.”

And before anyone else could protest, Jane walked towards the sergeant, as if in a trance, and was out of the room. They heard the front door slam and the car drive away. There was a silence.

Molly could sense then a general frustration. The remaining people were more awake, quite excited. Most of the gathering wished that Roger would leave the table. They were eager to discuss the implication of Jane’s summons, to indulge in the delight and relief of gossip, but it was hardly tactful to speculate that a woman might be a murderer while her husband was sitting in the same room.

Claire had asked to speak to the woman because she thought she might remember Rosco from the hostel and fill in the gaps from the records lost in the fire. But as the interview progressed, she became aware slowly that the woman had been drinking. At first she seemed quite calm and controlled. She showed little resentment at having been dragged from her supper table out into the night. She did seem to Claire to have aged since the interview in the morning. The lines on her forehead were more noticeable, her hair more lank and untidy. She was easier to intimidate.

Then the indications of drunkenness became more apparent. Listening to the inspector’s patient questions, Jane’s eyes glazed, and Claire had to repeat herself. She mumbled occasional replies. Some of her responses were slightly incoherent and irrational. There were bursts of aggression. Claire wondered then if she had been taking drugs rather than alcohol, but Jane was a respected probation officer, and at first the idea seemed impossible.