In the next room Gunson saw a doll had been incongruously placed across the upper body of a bearded man’s corpse so that its round, hairless head rested on his shoulder. Like the doll, the man was clothed in a long nightshirt and looked for all the world as if he was peacefully sleeping off a night on the ale. Gunson’s gaze was drawn back to the doll’s cherubic and unblemished face and he could finally accept the truth he gazed on. Nothing so exquisite could be manufactured by anything other than nature. Lustrous lashes resting on a plump cheek waiting for a mother’s kiss, wispily arched eyebrows that had barely had chance to come into being before they were set in time. A tiny placid mouth that should have been rosy with life.

‘Terrible, terrible,’ said a familiar voice at his shoulder, ‘but at least they are together now, for all eternity.’

It was John Webster and, behind him, a group of men. Gunson recognised the town clerk among them and nodded to him, but the man just stared back at him. Was he in shock or did he blame Gunson for the calamity? The man must understand that this had been a freak accident, that no accusing finger could or should be pointed at the chief engineer. Gunson felt Millicent pull away from him, walking towards the next room, and realised how much he had been depending on that small physical contact. He went to follow her, but Webster laid a hand on his arm.

‘Have you lost someone, John?’

‘No, no. I have brought my housekeeper to see if her daughter is here. The girl lives in Malin Bridge. She hasn’t turned up and she’s not in the infirmary.’

‘Then I fervently hope she will make her way to you and not be discovered here.’ Webster patted his arm.

Two of the men had come forward to peer into the room and were conversing in low tones.

‘It was known the dam was dangerous on Friday morning, I heard.’

‘Aye, I heard the same, and that the alarm was raised in the valley before the thing burst. At least, at Damflask. Why didn’t we get a warning at Matlock?’

‘I was told there was water leaking from a crack two days before and the contractors said that was usual.’

‘They would say that, wouldn’t they?’

Webster caught the men’s eyes and put his finger to his lips. ‘I’m sorry, John. This is not the day for apportioning blame or speculating on the cause of the disaster. These are the jurymen just empanelled for the inquest. We’ve opened it at the Sheffield Union House. Do you know, there are a hundred bodies laid out in that building alone? There are temporary morgues all over the town.’

Gunson grimaced.

Webster said, ‘I must say I’ve never seen so much lime scattered about. They’ve already started flushing out the sewers. It’s a filthy business. Mark my words, there’ll be more deaths from this.’ He sighed. ‘In any event, the sanitary committee certainly has its hands full.’