‘Very concerned.’ Sam smiled. ‘Drink your tea, and we’ll pay a visit.’

* * *

Elspeth Berridge didn’t like gossip and was loath to discuss her neighbours, not wanting to ‘get folk into trouble’. Jackman and Marie said that by telling them, she’d possibly be helping to find a missing child.

‘It’s the night they finally left Glebe Close that we’re most interested in, Elspeth,’ Jackman said. ‘Hetty tells me you have a really good memory. Can you cast your mind back and tell us everything you remember about it?’

‘It’s hard to forget, unfortunately. My Fred was alive then, and he made me promise to let well alone and say nothing to anyone. He said they were going, and that was an end to it. Good riddance to bad rubbish.’ She swallowed. ‘The thing is, the house was in his name. He told me that himself. He had the decency to come and tell me they were splitting up and would be moving out. He even apologised for all the arguments and said he hoped they hadn’t upset me too much. He said that sometimes things didn’t work out as you hoped.’ She looked from one to the other of them. ‘He was very sad when he said that, Officers, I could tell. I just had to ask about the boy, our little Teddy.’ She looked down. ‘He said Christopher was going with him. They would be staying with a relative for a short while until the sale of the house was finalised, then he’d get somewhere within easy reach of Christopher’s school.’

‘But that didn’t happen, did it, Elspeth?’ said Jackman.