‘His jacket was black and waist-length, and his trousers were the same colour. You certainly ask a lot more questions than your uniform colleague,’ she remarked.

‘That’s why she’s a detective, dear,’ Peter said, nodding sagely.

‘Did you tell the uniform sergeant what you’ve just told me?’ Jane asked, wondering why he hadn’t written it down on the form.

‘He never asked and said he had a lot of flats to visit, then left.’

Jane wasn’t surprised about the sergeant’s behaviour, having experienced his lousy attitude for herself.

‘Did you happen to notice if there was anyone else in Blake Hall Road at the time?’

‘I know the postman was. I saw him come from Felstead Road and walk past the two men towards the estate. I stopped to wait for him and asked if he had anything for number fourteen, but he didn’t.’

‘Did you see where the two men went while you were waiting for the postman?’

‘Into Felstead Road, but since you’ve made me think about everything in detail, I’ve a feeling I might have seen them again.’

‘Where and when was that?’

‘While I was talking to the postman.’

She wondered if Rita was getting confused.

‘You saw them twice in Blake Hall Road?’

‘Well, I think it was them.’

‘Did they still have the black holdall?’

‘I don’t know, but it might have been in the car.’

‘So, you saw them in a car?’

‘Yes, but only briefly. It was a fancy sports car – it caught my eye as it came up the street and went past me.’

‘What makes you think the two men were in it?’

‘The man driving was wearing the same green butcher jacket and there was a man in the passenger seat.’

Peter sighed. ‘Sergeant Tennison already told you it’s a Barbour jacket.’

‘Did you get a better look at their faces this time?’

‘No, they went past quite quickly, and it was the car that caught my eye, not them.’

‘Can you describe the make and colour of the car?’

‘I don’t know much about cars, but it only had one door on the driver’s side and was gold.’

‘Close your eyes again and think hard, Mrs Brown,’ Jane encouraged her.

She opened her eyes after a few seconds. ‘It had one of them black cloth roofs that you can put down in the summer and a big upside-down silver Y in a circle on the front grille bit.’

‘Sounds like a Mercedes 450SL convertible,’ Peter said.

Jane didn’t know much about cars herself, though having heard Peter suggest it was a Mercedes, the ‘upside down silver Y’ now made sense. To be sure she asked Rita to draw the emblem exactly as she remembered.

‘What about the registration plate on the car? Can you recall any of the letters or numbers?’

‘I’m sorry, I can’t.’