‘Matt, I think we need a new plan of action regarding Little Anchor.’ Liz handed him a mug of tea and a sandwich. ‘We’ve ground to a halt.’

She flopped into a patio chair and looked at him anxiously. Haggard didn’t suit him. ‘Things aren’t going particularly well, are they?’

He shook his head and took a bite out of his sandwich.

‘Matt, darling, you are doing your best for Will and he appreciates it. You can’t do any more. This is not a quick-fix situation, and from what Will told you yesterday about his niece turning up on the doorstep, it’s about to get a whole lot worse.’

‘He’s out of his depth. There are times when I want to get hold of Kate and shake the hell out of her for what she’s doing to him, let alone to herself.’ He gritted his teeth. ‘It’s not exactly a compassionate and caring attitude, but that’s how I feel.’

‘Mmm, probably not something Laura would advise.’ She smiled at him. ‘But I do understand the sentiment.’ She sipped her tea. ‘But that aside, what are we going to do about Emilia? I spoke to her yesterday and told her the state of play at Little Anchor. She said she appreciates us watching over it, but she doesn’t want us wasting our time when we could be doing something else. She’s not coming home just yet. She and her friend are enjoying some time together, going out and basically doing things that you don’t do when you are alone.’

‘I don’t blame her,’ said Matt. ‘But it’s galling that we are no further forward now than when I got floored!’

‘And neither are the police,’ added Liz, ‘although CID have tracked down where the petrol container came from.’ She frowned. ‘Pity that it had to be the biggest motor spares superstore in the area.’

‘Typical.’ Matt picked up his mug and stared into his tea. ‘It’s odd that no one has made another assault on Little Anchor, isn’t it? Nor has anyone contacted her about a possible purchase, which was what I thought might happen. It’s just gone deadly quiet.’

‘I can’t help thinking it’s personal to Emilia. Now she’s not there, they’ve left it alone.’ She shrugged ‘But who knows? If the idea really was to drive her out, that means there is something special about the cottage itself, or the location, but we’ve been over that a dozen times, so what is it?’

‘Do you think we should stop checking it out?’ he asked.