Nathaniel stared at the lad. It was Rose, he knew it. It all fitted, but what the hell had she been doing coming to look after a single man living on his own? Quietly, he said, ‘She might have been,’ his soft tone belying the temper rising in his chest.

‘Aw, come on, a young lass with a babby speaks for itself, don’t it. She was no better than she should be, and Vickers liked ’em like that. You ought to have seen some of the pictures he’d got hidden away at the back of the mill when the constable came to search around. Make a sailor blush, they would.’ He gave another sly grin.

‘The constable?’ Nathaniel stared at the spotty face. ‘Why was the constable looking around?’

‘Well, it was all a bit funny to tell you the truth and they wondered whether it really was an accident that took him at first. Him being found the way he was, in the bedroom with his head bashed in. Well, I say bashed in but they reckon now he was three parts to the wind and fell and pierced his skull on the fender in the fireplace, but there was no sign of the lass and her bairn, see? Nothing. They didn’t know if it was a robbery or something, or if this lass was involved, but there were some nice bits in the sitting room, his mam’s silver from her wedding an’ such and nothing had been touched so they decided it was an accident after all. The lass could have upped and gone any time in the weeks beforehand ’cause I wasn’t around, so’ – he shrugged again – ‘there it is.’

‘What did she look like?’

‘Well, like I said I didn’t see her near to but I could tell she was bonny.’

‘What colour hair?’

‘Brown. Reddy brown I’d say an’ a nice figure but like I said, she must have caught her toe when she landed herself with the bairn. Why else would a lass come to look after Vickers? He was no oil painting.’

She had prostituted herself to this Vickers bloke and yet she wouldn’t let him look after her. Nathaniel’s stomach was churning. She’d let young lads like this one snigger about her and all the time he’d been tearing his hair out trying to find her. He would kill her if he got his hands on her.

‘Mind you, she’d have earned every penny with Vickers if them pictures we found were anything to go by. Made your hair curl, they did. Perhaps she’d had enough and took off and that’s why he was drinking himself senseless. Like me da said, Vickers had lost his live-in whore.’