He shook his head, leaned his elbows on the worktop. “Not as far as I know. Not that they would tell the likes of me, anyway. I’m not part of Francie’s crew. They just bring me in to do the dirty work, really, but . . .”

His eyes became distant.

“But?” Sara asked.

“There was one day,” he said. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, I just did what I was told.”

She turned to face him. “What?”

“This one day, it would’ve been late in the job, but I was working down in the basement and all of a sudden, we were all told to go home. It happens sometimes, like if there’s a gas leak, or if someone breaks open a water main, everyone on-site is told to go home. I assumed it was something like that, but . . .”

Tony shifted on his stool.

“When I think about it, they were nervous. The site manager and his boys. They called Francie, he went in to take a look, and then we were all sent home. He looked rattled when he came out. It was a Thursday, I remember that. They paid us for the last couple of hours of the day, and the Friday, then we came back on the Monday and nothing more was said about it.”

“Where did Francie look?” Sara asked.

“Where the extension is now,” Tony said. “It used to be a stable block, I think, or maybe an old milking shed. They were digging up the concrete floors. I thought at the time they’d maybe dug up some old archaeological stuff. You know, like old coins or pottery or something. Site managers hate that. If they find some old stuff from a thousand years ago, they’re supposed to down tools until a proper dig can happen. A lot of times, a project like this, they’ll find some old bits and pieces and not let on, just dig over it so the job doesn’t get held up. That’s what I thought it was at the time. Either way, Francie told everyone to get out, and you don’t argue with a man like him.”

“A man like him?” she echoed.

Tony opened his mouth, but he found no words, as if he knew he’d said too much. Sara could see him scrambling for an answer. Eventually, he took a swig of tea and set the mug back on the worktop.

“I need to get on,” he said, standing.

“Tell me,” Sara said.

“Tell you what?”

“What you mean by a man like him.”

Tony held his hands out, a gesture of surrender. “Look, I’m sorry, I’ve no business saying anything about him. Just forget it, all right?”

“I want to know.”

“He’s your father-in-law. I’m not going to say anything against him.”

“Please,” she said, reaching out to him, taking hold of his wrist. “I want to know.”