Liz was relieved to finally see Matt’s car draw up. She had tried hard to persuade Emilia to go and stay with a friend for a few days, but Emilia had dug her heels in. She was going nowhere. Now she was over the initial shock of finding her garden trashed, anger had taken over, followed by a determination to get to work and salvage what she could from the destruction.

One look at Matt’s face told Liz that all was not well, but she decided not to ask any questions until they were alone. She made tea and they sat around the kitchen table.

First, Matt told Emilia what the police had said, along with their advice to move out for a while. He got the same answer as Liz. Emilia was staying put. When they had finished their tea, she declared it was time to go and face the carnage.

‘I can get a few hours’ tidying up in before dusk. I think it will be therapeutic. Oh, and I need to call in to my friend from the Post Office too. It’s our evening for a sherry and a gossip, and I don’t want her to hear about my garden from anyone else.’ She stood up. ‘And I will call you if I’m concerned about anything, I promise.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Matt.’

‘No, no, I’ve troubled you enough. I’ll be fine, I promise. And as you say, I can always call you.’

‘Day or night, Emilia. We can be there in no time. Just make sure you lock up and keep that lovely car in the garage,’ Matt said rather sternly. ‘At least it’s a solid building. You couldn’t knock that down in a hurry.’

Emilia laughed. ‘Well, that’s not surprising, is it? You remember what my husband did for a living?’

Matt looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled. ‘Ah, yes, of course. Construction of purpose-built outbuildings and garages.’

‘No one would break into that, I assure you,’ said Emilia proudly. ‘He was a craftsman.’

Liz accompanied her to the door. ‘I can’t tell you how sorry I am about what happened,’ she said. ‘We still feel responsible and that we let you down.’

‘You couldn’t be there all the time, Liz. Whoever is doing this is clever. They’d have picked their moment carefully, and I’m certain that they knew I was going away — although I have no idea how.’ She squeezed Liz’s arm. ‘It wasn’t your fault, my dear, so please, think no more about it.’

‘We know a very good gardener, Emilia. I’m sure he wouldn’t be averse to a few extra hours’ work, just to help you with the heavy stuff? I can ring him if you like.’