‘True, I suppose. Oh, I’m that angry, I could slap her, I really could.’

Ellen took a calming sip of the tea Tom had put down in front of her. They were at the Lodge, having had a very unpleasant afternoon in the company of two police officers. Mr Stellion had been summoned from the brewery, and he and Mrs Stellion had been interviewed as well. If the police thought they’d learn anything new they must have been disappointed, as it quickly became apparent that no one had the slightest idea what had been going on.

The Stellions thought that James worked for an art dealer, but it turned out that the only dealing he did was in stolen goods.

‘I don’t understand,’ Edith had said, weeping and flapping her hands. ‘We gave him the best education we could afford; everything he wanted, made sure he had enough money to establish himself in nice, respectable lodgings when he went to London. He’s going to take over from my husband at the brewery eventually – why would he be dealing with burglars and thieves?’

‘It seems Mr James Stellion has had a bit of bad luck at the races of late, madam,’ the more senior police officer said. ‘We’ve spoken to some friends of his in London and it turns out he’s very fond of a bet on the horses. Seems his stakes were rather higher than his income. We suspect he thought this was an easier way to earn money quickly than working at a proper job, but then he started to lose more often and turned to crime to raise some cash.’

Poor Edith put her head in her hands and gave herself up to sobbing, while George asked questions about the kind of items James sold on.

‘Small pieces, mainly,’ said the policeman, ‘though that doesn’t always mean small in value. We found several items of jewellery and some watches in James’s lodgings. They answer the descriptions of pieces taken in various burglaries in the south of England. There was also a parcel packed up ready for the post, addressed to Miss Georgina Arnold at this address. It was found to contain a few more such items. James’s landlady said someone called “Gina” had telephoned a few days ago to speak to James. We think James has been sending some of the stolen goods to Georgina.’

‘But what could she have done with them?’ asked Dora, white with shock. ‘She wouldn’t know who would want to buy them. She’s just a country lass and has lived all her life in Little Grindle. Mebbe she’s not been sent owt so far and that parcel would have been a first.’