‘My name is Sergeant Beal. I’m here about an incident at the Heath fairground earlier this afternoon.’

‘Yes, my handbag was snatched from my grasp. Did someone report it?’

‘The incident I’m talking about involved a missile being thrown at a young lady.’

‘No, the missile in question was thrown at the thief. The young lady happened to interpose herself between us. I think you will find there is a considerable difference between these two statements.’

‘Mattie,’ said The Flea, levelly, ‘you are not in the dock.’

‘Nevertheless, I would prefer to keep the facts straight.’

Beal picked up his notepad and, with deliberation, thumbed through to a page of close writing. ‘The young lady claims you threw a bottle at her.’

‘A miniature bottle. Please don’t make it sound as if I lobbed a jeroboam in her direction. A crime had been committed and I was attempting to delay the escape of the perpetrator. The injury to the girl was entirely accidental, not to mention minor, and I apologized profusely. I cannot see why this is a police matter.’

There was a pause. Mattie had the sudden feeling that she had hit a mis-shot.

‘You said that a crime had been committed,’ repeated the sergeant.

‘Yes, my bag was stolen.’

‘Which is most definitely a police matter. And yet you didn’t, yourself, report it.’

‘No.’

‘Why’s that?’

There was a pause. ‘I chose not to. As is my legal right.’

Beal nodded, as if she’d just confirmed something. ‘I gather we’re not too fond of the police, are we, Miss Simpkin?’

‘I – I presume you are using the first-person plural ironically – I infer from your remark that you know something of my history. The question therefore answers itself.’

‘The tea’s ready,’ announced The Flea, brightly and hurriedly. ‘Let’s all sit down together, shall we? Would you like a cup of tea, Sergeant?’

‘Thank you, Miss Lee, that would be most welcome.’

‘Let me clear a space.’ She moved the piles of cards to the window ledge, and took her time about setting out the tea cups, waiting until Mattie had reluctantly taken a seat before she began to pour.

‘Given that I did not report the incident,’ said Mattie, ‘may I ask why and how you arrived on my doorstep?’

‘One of my constables was patrolling the fair, and he came across the injured young lady. She gave a description of the person who had thrown the missile and this description was recognized by the constable in question, who had attended an incident involving yourself last summer.’

‘Which incident?’

‘An argument between yourself and a carter.’

‘Oh, that incident. The fellow was refusing to allow his poor animal to stop for water on the hottest day of the year. All I did was unbuckle the harness and attempt to lead the horse away until such time as—’

‘Mattie.’ The Flea’s tone was like a nudge to the steering wheel; Mattie veered away from the side road and back to the main thoroughfare. ‘As I say, the injury to the girl was quite accidental and not, I think, serious, and my apology was immediate.’