Will told him about the room under the garage floor at Little Anchor, and that he believed it to be the reason for the attempts to drive the old lady from her home. He then described how he had come across the torn doll’s dress and the scrap of material from it, and how he believed that his wife had been responsible for wrecking Emilia’s garden.

‘Come off it, Will!’ Matt sounded almost angry. ‘Sure, she’s been acting weird, but vandalism? That piece of material could have got there in any number of different ways.’

‘Matt, it was clean when I picked it up. If it had been there before the garden was destroyed, it would have been muddy, dirty. I am certain it was Kate.’

‘Listen, Will. Before you get your missus locked up,’ Swifty said, ‘we are pretty sure we know who is behind it. That petrol can was purchased by a kid whose father is known to us. He paid cash, but the girl who sold it remembered his flashy trainers and the red and white Adidas T-shirt he was wearing. From her description of the lippy little git, we reckoned it was one of the Hemmings boys. Their dad is a right nasty piece of work, do anything if the price is right. Naturally, half of Fenfleet are willing to swear he was somewhere else on all the dates in question, but we’ve got his number now and we are watching him. A hundred to one it’s him, and I’ve nabbed him with a spray can once before, so now we just need to find out who he’s working for. So, forget what you just told me about Mrs Stonebridge, okay? And I’ll do the same. Let’s get to the bottom of why someone wants the Swain cottage so badly, shall we?’

Relieved, Will nodded. He had needed to hear someone assure him that Kate couldn’t be to blame. ‘Thanks, Swifty. I feel better about it now. I guess I got everything out of perspective.’

‘No problem. Look, I have to get back out there and help with setting up the lights. I’m not far away if you need me, and if I hear any news, I’ll be in here like a shot. Oh yeah, and Gerald Grove will be back home tonight. We are going to be keeping a very close eye on that little shit. Knowing what he was involved in before, I find it very hard not to believe that he’s behind all this in some way.’

‘We feel the same. Just thinking about him gets my back up.’ Will shuddered.

Swifty picked up his cap and left.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about that piece of linen before?’ asked Matt softly.