‘I’m so sorry, Emma . . . I can’t begin to imagine what effect that must have had on your lives.’

‘My father was punished by God for his sins,’ Emma continued. ‘But the reality is he got away with nearly killing me and Rachel, and murdering Mama and the policeman. I’m glad he died, but part of me will always feel he should have been tried and sent to prison.’

‘I understand now why you wanted Rachel to tell me about the men in the Bluebird cafe.’

Emma looked imploringly at Jane. ‘Promise me you’ll never tell her the truth about our father and what he did to Mama . . . It would break her heart.’

‘You have my word on it. We’d better finish making these drinks and take them through, or Rachel will wonder what’s going on.’

As they walked into the living room Rachel signed to Emma, asking if everything was all right.

‘We were just chatting about your drawings, then I showed Jane some of my dress patterns.’

Emma handed her sister a cup of tea. Jane could tell from the look on Rachel’s face she suspected her sister wasn’t being truthful. She handed Teflon his coffee.

‘Any luck with the car?’

‘Looks like your Camel Hair Coat Man was probably driving a Jensen Interceptor.’

‘That’s a sports car, isn’t it?’

He grinned and shook his head. ‘Saying that would be sacrilege to a Jensen owner. The cars are classed as GTs, which means Grand Tourer, from the Italian gran turismo – luxury high performance cars that are designed for long-distance driving, like Aston Martins, Ferraris and Maseratis. Jensen stopped producing cars in 1976, but a new one back then would have cost you around eight grand.’

Jane smiled. ‘I didn’t take you for a car buff.’

‘I’m not, but my dad is. He gets Classic Cars magazine every month and lets me have them when he’s finished. I like to dream about cruising an alpine road in an Aston Martin.’

Rachel signed and Emma translated.

‘She said, “You never know, one day you might win the pools or Premium Bonds and be able to buy one.” ’

‘I’d get stopped by the police every five minutes if I was driving a Jensen – or any expensive car for that matter,’ he said wryly.

Emma signed while Jane explained to Rachel that her information about the men in the cafe had proved useful and was still being followed up, but there was no direct evidence to suggest they had committed, or were about to commit, a robbery. Rachel smiled and signed that in some ways that was a relief. She was worried about using the cafe after telling Jane what she had lip-read.