‘No, we don’t see at all,’ said the lame man, with a short laugh. ‘From the very few facts we can glean, it sounds as if you must be the prime suspect in a murder. That’s what my young relative would say, anyhow. Sudden suspicious death of an unnamed woman. Our Ben would love it. As soon as he gets to hear about it, he’s going to come dashing back down here, you see if he doesn’t.’

‘Oh, Dick!’ scolded his partner. ‘Don’t make it sound as if that would be a bad thing. You know how you love having him.’104

‘He’s a bright boy, I’ll say that for him,’ conceded the man.

The second man, who had said nothing so far, finally spoke up. ‘Pity he’s at the other end of the country. We’d all like to see more of him – and the rest of his family. They’ve been the only ones who managed to keep the whole thing going.’ He pulled a rueful face. ‘Not one of the rest of you has done your bit.’

‘As you never tire of reminding me,’ said lame Dick.

‘And it’s no use accusing me of letting the side down,’ said the woman. ‘As far as Dick’s concerned, females don’t qualify. And I’m only a distant second cousin anyhow.’

‘Come on, Norma – that’s not fair,’ Dick protested. ‘I never said any such thing.’

‘Well it’s too late now,’ said Norma with a slightly uneasy laugh.

The second man joined in. ‘And it’s none of my business anyway – as I’m sure you’re itching to remind me. Even so, I’d be happy to have young Ben back again. He was invaluable when he was here last week, the way he helped us get a proper website up and running, and talked us through the mysteries of spreadsheets.’

Both the men appeared to be in their seventies. Again, Thea performed her instinctive calculations as to generations and their relative ages. Since marrying Drew, the compulsion had only grown stronger. The most fascinating aspect of his funerals to her was the way the families were constructed. There would be devoted in-laws, committed cousins, second marriages and teenage mothers. Aunts and uncles could be 105younger than their nieces and nephews, and it seemed that society abounded in step-relations. Thea loved to disentangle them with Drew at the end of the day.

It was a refreshing relief to be chatting to such normal people, pursuing such a wholesome activity. Even though they were understandably curious about the Grace business, they hadn’t been especially persistent. They all seemed considerably more interested in their family history project.

‘Well, I should get back,’ she said. ‘I’m meant to be keeping the builders happy.’

‘Keeping them at it, you mean,’ said the woman with the fringe. ‘I know how that goes.’

‘They seem very good, but there’s quite a tight deadline.’

‘Good luck, then.’ That seemed to be a polite dismissal, and Thea started to drift away. It had killed about half an hour, at best, but she felt more grounded for the little outing. The very existence of these friendly villagers made a big difference to her mood.