He wrote the date down and looked at it thoughtfully. “You’re quite sure?”

“Yes.”

“And were you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Did you tell anyone you were going?”

“No. It was something I had to do on my own.”

“And afterward did you tell anyone you’d been there?”

“I don’t think so. No, I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Like I said, it was personal.”

“But you have close friends—friends in whom you confide?”

“Yes.”

“And it must have been an emotional experience.”

“It was cold and wet,” I said, remembering slithering down the bank.

“So isn’t it a bit odd that you didn’t tell anyone something like that?”

“It’s not odd. The next day was the funeral, and I had lots of other things to think about.”

“I see. So there’s no one to verify your story?”

“It’s not a story, it’s the truth. And no, there’s no one to verify it, though I don’t see why it needs verifying. Why is it so important?”

But even as I said the words, I realized why he thought it was so important. My mouth opened, but no words came out. I stared at him and he looked back at me implacably.

“It’s just funny you never mentioned it,” he said.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Are you serious?” said Gwen. “What are they playing at?”

I tried to hush her but she wouldn’t be hushed. I had arrived at what Fergus had called the baby-boasting party with a miniature pair of dungarees and a beret. When I’d bought them, they had seemed impossibly small, like doll’s clothes, but when I peered into the cot I realized they were much too big.

“She’ll grow into them,” I said. “Eventually.”

“She’s called Ruby,” said Jemma.

“Oh, great,” I said. “That’s a lovely name.”

“Admittedly Ruby sounds like someone who should be dancing on a New Orleans riverboat,” said Fergus.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Jemma, picking Ruby up and telling her she wasn’t going to let that horrible man say such horrible things about her. She was talking in a tone I’d never heard used by an adult. It was clearly something I’d have to get used to over the coming years. Jemma insisted that I hold Ruby. She told Ruby I was her godmother and that we ought to get to know each other straightaway. Sensibly enough, Ruby was fast asleep as Jemma showed me her miniature fingernails and her equally miniature toenails. Then she woke up and Jemma retrieved her, coaxed her and contentedly fed her.