Ann stopped abruptly as something white whizzed past. A snowball landed with a thud on James’s shoulder. She spiralled round to see the two boys from the tenement, laughing. Without thinking, she bent to scoop a handful of snow from the railings. She squeezed it tight and then, her eyes screwed up in concentration, threw it across the road with an unladylike grunt. It reached the other side and landed with a thunk on the pavement. The boys fled back inside the dark close as Archibald marched towards them.

‘That was some shot, Mrs Craig.’ Alec Smith stood at her side, hat in his hand.

‘Yes, well, perhaps I should not…’ said Ann, flustered. She removed her kid gloves and beat them against each other to shake off the snow.

Margaret was standing open mouthed, aghast at the sight of a lady throwing a snowball. And on a Sunday.

Archibald returned and said, grinning, ‘Well then, yet another sign that Mrs Craig is an unusual lady. Snowball rolling is to be added to her long list of talents!’

‘I will have no one hurt my children.’ She spat out the words. ‘Ever!’

Margaret raised an eyebrow. She was always telling Ann she was too over-protective and affectionate towards the children, which did them no good at all.

There was silence until Archibald chuckled. ‘Quite right, these urchins need to be kept in their place.’ He turned to Alec Smith, extending his hand to the stationmaster.

‘Good morning, Mr Smith, how is the knee?’

‘Better, thank you, doctor.’

‘Good. What news from the station?’

‘Not good, I am sorry to say. Yesterday afternoon, a mesmerist was taken out onto the river by a fishing boat and they stopped the boat, as she commanded, to the east of the high girders. She stood up in the boat as it sailed north-east and muttered some things and after an hour or so on the water, she gave her prediction. She said that many bodies would be found that day and the next two, delivered up from the depths. She said she saw three clearly and that one had a watch on his body and she saw silver in his pocket.’

Ann and the Donaldsons leant in towards him.

‘Well, this very morning, in the midst of the snow shower, three bodies were washed ashore at Broughty Ferry beach. Of those three bodies, one gentleman had a silver pocket watch on him. The time said a quarter past seven, the time the train fell into the Tay. The mesmerist’s prediction was true. So we await the other bodies.’

Ann fanned herself with her gloves.

Margaret looked horrified. ‘A mesmerist? What nonsense. What does a mesmerist have to do with it?’

‘She has second sight, gets herself into a trance and can see all sorts of things. Which is surprising as she’s blind.’

Ann Craig put her hands up to her face. ‘Was it Blind Mattie?’