Fred shook his head. ‘Nah. I know what I heard though. I wish I’d knocked now. I do sometimes. See if she wants a packet of fags or anything from the offie. I know she don’t go out at night, see. Whoever went into her house knew her. When I knocked there on me way out she’d call out to me “Who is it?” or “Is that you, Fred?” You know the kind of thing. She never opened the door without establishing who was there first.

‘That’s what makes me think she knew him. I’ve been thinking about it all morning. When I heard all the hubbub going on I went down, see. Two bloody old biddies screaming their heads off. It was me who phoned you and the ambulance. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Leonora knew her attacker, my girl, I’m convinced of it.’

Kate let the man talk. What he said made sense. If she lived alone, and was not the type to socialise very much, Leonora would be aware of the dangers. Women who had no social life were always more wary of people knocking on their doors than those who got about a bit.

‘Did you notice any strange cars parked outside when you went to the . . . ?’

‘I went to the Hoy and Helmet. And, no, I didn’t see any unusual cars parked outside. My friend gave me a lift back at about eleven fifteen and I noticed that Leonora’s lights were still on. I could see them through the chinks in the curtains. It’s like I said before - you get to know everything about everyone. Living on top of one another like we do.’

‘Have you ever seen Leonora with a man? Maybe a man from work who might have given her a lift home?’

‘She always went to and from work with her friend Dorothy. I’ve never known either of them go to work alone. They even have the same days off.’

Kate smiled to take the edge off her next sentence.

‘You seem to know an awful lot about Leonora Davidson, Mr Borrings.’

He watched her grimly.

‘I happened to like her, missis. I liked her a lot. There’s no law against that, is there? I’m trying to help you so you can find the person responsible. That’s all. You can check out my story. Plenty of people saw me in the Hoy, I use the pub a lot.’

‘That won’t be necessary, Mr Borrings.’ It would be checked out as a matter of course but Kate was too wise to mention this. ‘It’s just that normally people are undecided about a lot of things that they see or hear. You know, like after a bank robbery, every witness has the robber in a different coloured sweater with different coloured hair.’

‘I understand exactly what you’re getting at, missis.’ His voice was hard. ‘But I am not like that. I don’t waste words. I say what I think and I think about what I say. Be a damn sight better world if more people were like it.’