‘Gentlemen, I do not know what to say. All this leaves me simply speechless. My husband having intimate relationships with a servant is already too much for one to bear but the fact that he supposedly then killed her on hearing she was with child is simply unbelievable.’

Ann said nothing more; reticence was required here.

‘Mrs Craig, did you at any time suspect that your husband was in a relationship with Janet Clark?’

‘No, I did not.’

Jimmy scribbled in his book.

‘And do you have any reason to believe your husband might have murdered Janet Clark?’

She hesitated. ‘No, I do not.’

‘Mrs Craig, where has your husband been since the night of the twenty-eighth of December?’

Ann frowned. ‘Do you not know? Are you not aware that he was one of the train passengers that went down into the river that night?’

The two men looked at each other.

‘No.’

‘That is why I am in mourning, gentlemen, and even now await a letter from the morgue telling me his body has been washed ashore. I believe it will arrive soon. I miss him terribly but I am resigned now to the fact he will never return.’

‘We will check at the morgue after this.’

‘I can send Jessie to you with the letter when it comes,’ she said quickly. ‘Which police station?’

‘Union Street. Aye, if you don’t mind doing that for us, Mrs Craig.’

Thank God, she did not want policemen snooping round the morgue until Robert was buried.

‘And now, Mrs Craig, we will take our leave of you and apologise for this. Mr Clark is obviously either mistaken or lying. And both would have serious consequences.’

They stood up and Ann inclined her head as they went to the door. Instead of going to her window seat to watch them leave, she stood in the hallway, as she knew Mrs Baxter would be there, hovering. But they were taking forever to put on their cloaks so she reluctantly went back inside; it was not seemly for a lady to see guests out. She ran to the window and saw the older man walking down the drive alone. That meant that the young one was speaking to his aunt. Soon she saw young Jimmy run down after his colleague, waving at the door where the housekeeper must have been, gossiping.

Ann stamped her foot. Damn the woman, she was becoming trouble. She sighed and looked out at the river. The wind was getting up and the waters were beginning to swell and heave.

CHAPTER 54

Chapter 54

2015

Fiona and Pete broke apart from their kiss and sat down on the bench. She lifted the cricket bat up. ‘What’s with the bat, Pete?’

‘Present for Jamie, remember I always said I’d bring him one from Aus.’

Fiona was silent.

He looked into her eyes. ‘I know, I know, what the hell was I doing running off there anyway. Okay, here goes.’