I rubbed my sleeve against the glass and my eyes came to rest on two people across the street, standing in the alley between the flower shop and the chipper, both of which were closed now, with sandbags piled against their doors. I was grateful anew for the step up into our office. They talked intensely for a few minutes and then they hugged, parted and left to walk in opposite directions. I was taken aback to see it was Derek Jameson and Sue Burns, Lissa’s sister. What was going on there? I wondered. They’d been friendly that first day when I watched them checking their bikes, but who knew they were that close?

I waited until they were both out of view, then I went back down to reception and stared at the computer. There was always the net. Maybe I could do a little digging. See what I could find out about Bob Jameson, for a start – his background, family, friends, the sort of man he was. Because I was certainly getting two very different impressions. I could see, also, if I could find any connection between Jameson and Lissa’s husband Chris. Chris had been seen outside a guesthouse from which a man had been taken and killed. Could it really be a coincidence?

I sat at Leah’s desk and turned on the computer, noticing as I did so some notes that Marina had left to go with dictation she’d set. I wondered fleetingly if she was still around. With so many roads impassable it was possible she hadn’t managed to leave, unless she’d gone immediately after I’d seen her at the house. Might I have a house guest for a few more days or would she stay with Harry?

I pushed the notes to one side and opened Google, thinking that I’d start with the article Molloy had shown me on his phone. When I typed in Bob’s name, several obituaries appeared – it seemed that each of the weekend papers had done one. It amazed me how quickly they appeared, though I knew there were pre-prepared ones if you were a certain age. I caught Bob’s age as fifty-five, still a bit young for his death to have been expected.

The piece Molloy had shown me was a news report with nothing I didn’t already know, but there was a link now to the same paper’s obituary, so I clicked on that and settled down to read about the dead man’s life.