Her expression cleared. “Oh, that’s a relief. I hope he goes to a good home.” She handed me back my phone. “If I’d been anywhere near that man, I’d have bitten him too.”

“What did you say?” Neither of us had noticed Amanda behind us, carrying a pot of tea, but the soft voice I’d heard earlier now had a definite edge.

Phyllis flushed, clearly mortified. “Oh God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that …”

But Amanda didn’t even look at her; her gaze was fixed on my phone.

“They’ve caught the snake,” I said gently as I showed her the picture.

She put the teapot down and took the phone from my hand. Her eyes welled. She didn’t comment, just gave me back the phone, picked up the pot and walked off. Phyllis was still pink.

“Why did you say that?” I asked in a whisper.

She held her brow in disbelief. “Ach, that was awful. I’ll have to apologize to her properly. I didn’t know she was here. I went off to get blankets too and I’d only just come back when you arrived.”

“Did you know Bob?” I didn’t think anyone in town knew him apart from Mary. And then I remembered that Phyllis and Mary were old friends.

She shook her head. “Not really, but I know how he treated Mary.”

I leaned in. “Go on.”

She lowered her voice; she wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. “Mary could have had anyone she wanted, but she put her life on hold for that man. More than once, I tried to persuade her to travel with me; she’d have loved it. But she always wanted to be here. Where he could find her if he needed her.”

“Did he visit her here?”

“Never set foot in the county till this weekend as far as I know. But Mary, she kept thinking …” Phyllis paused and then she gave a shrug. “Oh, I don’t know what she was thinking, but she was wrong anyhow. He never gave her anything but grief.”

“Did she think he was going to leave his wife?”

Phyllis shrugged again.

I lowered my voice even further. “Mary was a bit vague about their relationship. At first, I thought their romantic relationship was in the past and they were just friends, but then …”

Phyllis let out a sigh. “Maybe that’s the way it was from his perspective.” She gave me a crooked look. “What do they call it – friends with benefits? But it certainly wasn’t what Mary thought. And he sure as hell did nothing to discourage her.”

I thought about this for a minute. “I presume that’s why the charity-cycle crowd were staying with her? Her connection with Bob?”