‘I live there. Always have. We grew up together. Known the Eddlestone family all my days.’

‘If it is not too painful, can you tell us a little about what happened?’ Sarah asked, her voice softly appellant. She had a gift for putting people at ease: the same talent that calmed the most obstreperous patients at Queen Street no matter how busy the waiting room. ‘The newspaper said three generations had died but they often get these things wrong.’

‘No, that part is true enough. Old Mrs Eddlestone was the last to go. She spent much of the past few years bedridden, and yet I often said to myself that she would nonetheless see the rest of us buried. It was closer to truth than I intended.’

‘A hardy specimen, was she?’ Raven suggested with an encouraging smile, though he had detected little affection in Iain’s tone.

‘She was not an easy woman. I had not envisioned mourning her death, but in the event I was already grief-stricken. I was wary of her as a child and that never diminished. Her husband was lost at sea when her children were small, which I will own made things difficult for her, though, God forgive me, I sometimes wondered whether he was merely hiding.’

Raven wondered at the unguarded nature of the conversation, but traumatic events often rendered people more open than they would be otherwise.

‘Her son Stuart and my sister Julia were sweethearts from childhood. It seemed inevitable that they would marry, but I had my concerns about Julia moving into this house, fine as it is. In truth, I think she did not expect the old woman to live so long. Mrs Eddlestone was often ill, though I suspected it sometimes suited her to be so. Each time we thought she was nearing her end, she would wax strong again, bitter and spiteful as ever.’

‘Julia and Stuart had a child?’ Sarah asked.

He wore a sad smile.

‘Yes. Eleanor. A beautiful girl, although she was strong-willed and used to getting her own way, the only one of us who was any match for old Ma Eddlestone.’

The smile faded, and only the sadness remained.

‘A few weeks ago, she fell suddenly and profoundly ill. We all feared the worst, and then she appeared to recover. Unfortunately, her recovery was not sustained. The illness returned to claim her.’

Raven was aware of Sarah glancing at him but he kept his attention focused on Iain. Remittance and relapse: these were stages he had expected to hear about. However, he was cautious. Many a child had fought a brave battle with illness, raising their parents’ hopes only to succumb.